


Love In Unova

by CaptainParisStarr



Series: Unova and Kalos romance [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Infidelity, F/M, M/M, Original Character(s), Past Rape/Non-con, Semi-Public Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-02
Updated: 2015-09-09
Packaged: 2018-04-18 14:09:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4708832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainParisStarr/pseuds/CaptainParisStarr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While at a Pokemon Center between Twist Mountain and Icirrus City, Ash runs into Gary, whose there for the Conference. As they catch up they realize that they are attracted to one another. However, Gary's last relationship still haunts him. Will Ash be able to get his friend past what Maya put him through, or did she mess things up for them before they even had a chance to get started?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

Ash sped up as he spotted the Pokemon Center in the distance. “Hey, guys I see a Pokemon Center! We can spend the night there!” Night was already beginning to fall, and the road was getting darker by the minute.

 

“Good idea!” Iris, like usual, was able to keep pace with him while Cilan followed at a bit of a distance.

 

When he got closer Ash saw that this center was busier than normal. “I wonder what's going on here...”

 

“According to my map, there's a Pokemon conference going on. Hope they still have rooms free.” Cilan frowned as he put the map away again.

 

“Pokemon conference?” Ash frowned as well, but out of confusion rather than worry. By this time, they'd entered the main lobby. “We need a room for the night, for the three of us.” Pikachu's ears perked up as Ash talked to Nurse Joy. Unnoticed, he followed a familiar scent, and was picked up by an auburn haired youth with an Umbreon lounging next to him.

 

“I'm sorry, we only have one room left and it only has two beds. But I think that we may have a camp cot in storage somewhere that we could squeeze in...” Nurse Joy turned towards her computer.

 

“That won't be necessary, one of them can share with me.” Ash turned, as the voice that spoke was almost hauntingly familiar to him, but it still took a second to place the boy. It was the same boy that Pikachu had run off to, the auburn haired youth.

 

“Are you certain, Professor Oak?” It was then, when Nurse Joy said the name “Oak” that Ash finally recognized him.

 

“Gary! What are you doing here?” Ash ran towards him.

 

“Yes, I'm certain. And I'm here to attend the conference in my Grandfather's stead.” Gary frowned a bit, then laughed. “In a way, its your fault that he was detained, since a heard of wild Miltank got into the pen with your Tauros somehow, and... lets just say that Gramps is still figuring out what to do with all the eggs.” Gary shifted his hold on Pikachu as he spoke so that the electric mouse could jump over to Ash's shoulder.

 

“What? I haven't heard anything about that... but then again, this is the first Pokemon Center I've been to in over a week.”

 

“Ash! Aren't you going to introduce us?” Iris and Cilan had been waiting by the counter while they spoke.

 

“Oh, right! This is Gary Oak, Professor Oak's grandson. He's studying to become a full Pokemon professor like his Grandfather. Gary, this is Iris and Cilan.” He gestured to each of his friends in turn.

 

“Since you two clearly know each other well, why don't you share Gary's room, and Iris and I will take the other one?” Cilan suggested, reasonably.

 

“Alright! Now can we get some food, I'm starving!” Ash's stomach rumbled loudly as he spoke, causing Iris and Cilan to laugh, and Gary to mutter 'some things never change.'

 

They headed into the dinning area, and served themselves from the buffet. After they sat down at a booth to eat, Gary leaned over the table towards Ash.

 

“I'll let you take the spare bunk in my room, Ashy-boy, on one condition- I need a favor from you.”

 

Ash stopped eating, and glanced over at Gary- when they were children, it had never been a good thing for Gary to ask him for a favor. “What is it?” He asked cautiously.

 

“I might need to borrow one of the Pokemon you caught here in Unova for a presentation I'm doing tomorrow. I caught a Pokemon of my own for it, but she's not doing well, and I don't know whats wrong with her. I left her with Nurse Joy, but there's no guarantee that she'll be better by the time my presentation starts.”

 

“What kind of Pokemon is she?” Cilan asked, trying to be helpful.

 

“A dragon type Deino.” Gary tried to add more, but Iris cut him off.

 

“A dragon type! Let me take a look at her!” She exclaimed excitedly, and ran off to find Nurse Joy.

 

“Iris is from the Village of Dragons, and is studying to become a Dragon Master.” Ash explained, as Gary stared at the place Iris had just vacated in confusion.

 

“If anyone can figure out whats wrong with your Deino, it's Iris.” Cilan added, in agreement.

 

“Whats the presentation on?” Ash asked, relaxing. He had no issue with lending Gary a Pokemon for a few hours.

 

“It's on the effects of raising Pokemon with love and compassion- and I know that you raise your Pokemon that way. But it needs to be one that you've had for a while, not one that's freshly caught.”

 

Ash nodded, then pulled out his Pokedex to check something. Nodding, he put the Pokedex away again. “I'll lend you my Leavanny then.”

 

“A Leavanny... did you catch your Leavanny as a Sewaddle, or Swadloon, or already fully evolved?”

 

“As a Sewaddle. And Swadloon evolve based on tameness, correct?”

 

Gary nodded, impressed that Ash knew that. “Then your Leavanny should be perfect for my presentation.”

 

“Then we have a deal, I'll bunk with you, and you'll borrow my Leavanny if your Deino is still feeling sick tomorrow.”

 

“She's not ill, Ash.” Ash started, not having heard Iris return. She turned towards Gary. “Your Deino is simply homesick, she's still very young and missing her mother badly. She definitely won't be up to being on the stage tomorrow.” Iris sat down again to finish eating.

 

“Well, at least now I know that its nothing serious. Maybe, when this conference is over, I should take her back to where I caught her and release her into the wild again.” Gary muttered, looking thoughtful, but Iris shook her head.

 

“Dragons won't always take back their young after humans have had contact with the child. The scent of humans keeps them from recognizing the child as their own. It's better if you keep her, just don't try to battle with her for at least few more months.”

 

Gary nodded, then turned to talk to Ash, to ask him more about his Leavanny, but Ash had left to make a phone call. Sighing, Gary started to eat his still untouched food, not feeling that hungry but knowing that he should eat anyway. His stomach felt like it was full of butterflies since he was nervous about speaking in front of an audience that had come to see his Grandfather speak- and this would be his first time making a public presentation as well.

 

When Ash returned to the table, he was holding a Pokeball. “I got Professor Juniper to send over Leavanny, and I talked to Professor Oak about my Tauros. He's going to give the eggs to a local rancher, who's agreed to let me have a Miltank should any hatch from the eggs.” Ash explained as he handed Gary the Pokeball. Their fingers brushed as Gary accepted the Pokeball, causing Gary to jump slightly and Ash to pull back quickly as the touch had felt electric. Pushing away his still half full plate, Gary stood, fighting not to blush as his heart raced from the shock of touching Ash's skin.

 

“Lets go outside, I want to see what kind of personality your Leavanny has.” Gary walked to the door without waiting for Ash to reply, needing some fresh air desperately. The lights from the Pokemon Center lit the courtyard so that he barely noticed that it was dusk. Once outside, his heartbeat calmed slightly, but he was still confused about what had just happened.

 

“Are you feeling okay?” Ash asked, touching his friends shoulder gently. Jumping again, Gary had to swallow hard before he could reply.

 

“Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just nervous about talking in front of a large audience tomorrow.” Gary whispered, studying the ground as he spoke to avoid looking at Ash.

 

Ash's eyes widened. “You're nervous? Since when?” Ash asked in disbelief.

 

“Yes I'm nervous, and since I found out I would be subbing for Gramps. I've never spoken in front of a crowd before, not like this anyway. Just to accept awards when I won contests as a trainer, and this crowd is here to see Gramps not me...” Gary felt Ash grab his hand to reassure him, and he blushed. Pulling away, he tried in vain to hide the blush, and tossed Ash's Pokeball to release Leavanny.

 

Ash hung back, examining his friend with his eyes. Gary had changed quite a bit since they'd last seen each other, but that was to be expected, since Ash had been fourteen then and was sixteen now. Frowning, he realized that maybe Gary hadn't changed that much, that it was as much his perception that had changed. Though Gary did look different- his hair was more red now than the brown he remembered, his body more toned, and his cheekbones more sharply defined.

 

All in all, Ash had to admit that Gary was a very attractive young man, and Ash was beginning to realize that he was sexually interested in his friend. Not that Gary was the first boy to catch Ash's eye, there had been several others. James, from Team Rocket, had been the first person Ash had ever had a sex dream about, and since then he'd also dreamed about N, and his friend Cameron. Also, he'd gotten hard several times during battles with attractive young men, including Cilan's brother, Chili. It still amazed him that he'd been able to win, considering how distracted he'd been, but he'd shaken off most of the distraction after Tepig had gotten hit with dig.

 

Snapping out of his reverie, he realized that Gary had been trying to get his attention. “What is Leavanny doing?” He pointed to where the bug type Pokemon was gathering up leaves.

 

Ash laughed. “Making clothes for your Umbreon, most likely. He likes making clothes for all Pokemon, not just Sewaddle.” Shaking his head, he tried to clear his mind of the image of Gary lying on a bed nude, but he couldn't. Ash bit his lip and fought not to blush, as he realized that he was getting hard just being near Gary.

 

“So, your Leavanny's male.” Gary noted, not noticing Ash's discomfort.

 

“Yeah, Leavanny's male.” Ash confirmed, lifting Pikachu down from his shoulder to hug him.

 

By this time, Leavanny was finished fitting Umbreon with leaf clothing. “Hmm... this has potential. Yeah, I can use Leavanny's urge to show what Pokemon are capable of on their own when raised in an open, loving way. I'm assuming that you've done nothing to discourage Leavanny from making clothing for all other Pokemon?”

 

“No... actually I've encouraged it, and you should see the leaf costume that Leavanny made for Iris's Axew.” Ash shifted nervously as he spoke, bouncing slightly from foot to foot, but his voice was steady and did not betray how aroused he now was. Gary noticed, but misinterpreted the motion.

 

“Ash, do you need to pee or something?” Gary asked, frowning, convinced that Ash could not be reacting the same way he was - his pants were feeling quite tight by this point. But unlike Ash, who calmly accepted his attraction to men, Gary had never before reacted to another male, and was becoming increasingly confused as to why he was reacting to Ash.

 

“Yeah, kinda...” Ash lied, since his bladder was fairly empty, but he took the chance to leave and take care of his hard-on. “I'll be back in a few minutes.” Setting Pikachu down, he ran off towards the bathrooms. Barricading himself in a stall, Ash quickly freed his cock and, after wetting his fingers with saliva, he rubbed the throbbing tip, before beginning to stroke the length of his erection in earnest.

 

Biting his lip, he massaged the length gently with one hand as he alternated rubbing the tip and cupping his balls with his other hand. Soon enough he felt the familiar tightening sensation in his balls, and cupped his free hand under the tip - after removing his glove with his teeth - catching his cum before it splattered everywhere. Then he wiped his hand clean with some toilet paper, flushed, and, after fastening his pants again, left to wash his hands.

 

As he left, he remembered that he had agreed to share a room with Gary, and could not think of any way to switch with Iris or Cilan at this point – besides, he suspected that romance was blossoming between his friends and was curious about what they would do when left alone for the night. Resigning himself to spending the night in the same room as Gary, he headed back outside.

 

Gary was in the process of measuring Leavanny's height, weight, arm span, and several others that Ash wasn't sure what they'd be for. “Your Leavanny's quite healthy, which is to be expected.” Gary said, choosing not to comment on how long Ash had taken to supposedly urinate.

 

Ash frowned slightly. “You've never complimented me on how I raise my Pokemon before.” He commented, nonchalantly.

 

Chuckling, Gary stood up. “That was because, when I was still focusing on training, I thought that you were spending too much time playing with your Pokemon, and not enough time training. Now I understand better why you play with your Pokemon as much as you do, and it's not to avoid training like I'd thought at first.” Gary leaned down and scratched Pikachu's ears. “You play with your Pokemon so that they'll be at ease around you, and follow you out of genuine love and affection. That makes your Pokemon give their all more often, and might actually help them level up faster than Pokemon raised by trainers who don't value playing with Pokemon.” Gary explained, still petting Pikachu.

 

Ash thought about what Gary had said. “I never looked at it that way.”

 

Chuckling again, Gary stood up. “I know. You play with your Pokemon because that's just who you are. Your Pokemon are your friends... no, family.” Gary corrected himself. “Their family to you, and part of being family is playing together.”

 

“Yeah, they are. Friends and family both.” Ash yawned. “Its getting late,” He commented, as he noticed that the moon had risen. “We should turn in, you'll feel better speaking tomorrow if you get a good night sleep first.”

 

“If I can sleep.” Gary commented, offhandedly.

 

“I'm sure you will be.” Ash glanced at his friend, and noticed that Gary was hard. Wondering if he was the one who had made him hard- and he must have been since there hadn't really been anyone else, male or female, around them- he realized that Gary hadn't been talking about his nerves keeping him up. But Ash kept quiet about his suspicions until they were in the room they would be sharing for the night.

 

Ash stripped to his just his boxers and t-shirt without hesitation, and lay down on the unclaimed bed. But Gary was shy about removing his own clothing, and since he normally slept in just his boxers, or even naked when he knew he could get away with it, he knew that he would be uncomfortable sleeping in more clothing.

 

“Why are you shy? It's not like we haven't seen each other naked before, or shared a room for the night.” Ash teased, trying to get Gary to admit his attraction.

 

“We were children then! Now we're not, which makes things different. And I don't sleep nude... we'll, not all the time anyway.” Gary blushed.

 

“No, were definitely no longer children.” Ash slid off the bed and went over to Gary. “You can sleep nude tonight if you want, I won't mind.” Sliding his hand up under Gary's shirt, Ash tried to lift it over his head, but was pushed away.

 

“Ash! What are you doing?” His cock throbbed from how close his friend was, and his head spun in confusion.

 

“Helping you undress.” Ash explained what should have been obvious.

 

“Do you really want to see me naked?” Gary asked, semi-casually, though his heart was pounding in his throat.

 

“Yes, actually; I do want to see you naked.” Ash confessed softly. “And earlier, I didn't go to the bathroom to pee. I went to masturbate and get rid of the erection that you had given me.” Ash was nervous about confessing that, but he suspected that the knowledge would help Gary relax. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect.

 

“I what? Made you... Ash, are you... gay or something?” Gary spluttered, moving as far away from his friend as possible.

 

“Yes, I'm gay. If that's a problem...” Ash turned away, suddenly blinking back tears since he thought that he'd misread Gary, and his advances were unwelcome. Fear that he'd ruined his friendship with the other boy ran through him.

 

“How... how did you know that you like boys instead of girls?” Gary asked softly, feeling bad that Ash was on the verge of crying because of him.

 

“I... I dunno exactly. I just know that I only react physically to boys, not to girls. And... and I've been reacting to you, ever since I first saw you holding Pikachu earlier I've been feeling aroused. But I didn't actually get hard until we were outside, without Iris and Cilan around.” Ash explained, sinking back down onto his bed, relaxing slightly, the fear seeping away again.

 

“Have you... ever done anything with another boy?” Gary sat next to Ash, his curiosity getting the better of his confusion.

 

Ash shook his head. “No, I've been too scared of being rejected...” He laughed bitterly. “I only hit on you because I noticed that you were hard as well, and I thought...”

 

“That you were the one making me hard? Well... you thought right.” Gary whispered, interrupting Ash.

 

“But of course... what? I am?” Ash's brain registered what Gary had just said.

 

“Yes. I'm hard because of you... I freaked just now because I've never felt this way about a guy before, only women. I've only ever been sexually active with women. And no, I'm not a virgin.” Gary added, preempting Ash's next question. “I had sex once.”

 

“With a women.” Gary nodded. Ash nodded back, relaxing. “Okay, that's... well, I can work with this. Do... do you want to do anything tonight?” Ash suggested, almost shyly.

 

Gary swallowed. “What are you suggesting?” He slid closer, resting one hand on Ash's thigh.

 

“I was thinking that I could help you... relax. With a hand job... or I could use my mouth on you, if you'd prefer that. You wouldn't have to touch me at all, not tonight anyway.” Ash blushed as he knew that his willpower would only last a few days, if that, before he'd demand to be touched back.

 

“Ash...” Gary broke off, then leaned in and shyly kissed his friend. It was then that something Ash had said earlier returned to him. “You really don't mind if I sleep nude, do you?” He asked, casually.

 

Ash shook his head. “Actually, I would prefer it if you did. You... have a hot body and I would love to see more of it.” Ash flashed what he hoped was a seductive smile, but it came out as more nervous than anything.

 

“You really haven't done anything before, have you?” Gary asked, leaning in to kiss Ash again, his lips brushing his friends as he spoke. Shivering slightly, Ash shook his head. “Good. I think I'm going to have fun teaching you about sex.” Then he kissed Ash again, cupping his hand around the back of his friend's neck.

 

Kissing Gary back clumsily, Ash tried to open his mouth, but Gary stopped him. “Not just yet. Follow my lead.” Renewing the kiss, Gary parted his lips slightly, his tongue flicking out to lap at Ash's, and prompt him to open his own mouth slightly. Then their tongues touched, sending waves of pleasure through both boys, and Gary's control snapped. He pushed Ash down onto the bed, on his back, and deepened the kiss. Their tongues dueling and tangling together, as hands explored each others body, and hips rubbed their erections together through their clothing.

 

When they finally broke apart, it was simply to breathe. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Gary removed his shirt, shoes and socks, and carefully placed the necklace he always wore on the table between the two beds. Then he reached over and pulled off Ash's shirt, tossing it aside to join the growing pile of clothing on the floor. But when he went to resume the kissing, Ash pushed him back.

 

“Ash...”

 

“The door! It's still unlocked.” Ash quickly explained.

 

Gary turned, and saw that Ash was right, the door was unlocked. A quick examination proved that there was no lock, so he grabbed the chair by the small desk, and jammed it up under the handle.

 

“There, that should do for now.” Turning back to the bed, he gasped. Ash had used his distraction to remove his boxers and was now laying on his stomach, completely naked.

 

Rubbing Ash's ass gently, Gary realized that he had no idea how anal sex was actually supposed to work. “Ash... how much would it hurt you if I just took you now, like this?” He asked, curiosity and arousal pushing him to go faster than he actually wanted to go.

 

Ash sat upright, revealing that he was fully aroused. “Are you saying that you want to have sex with me?” He asked, surprised.

 

“Yes, I am.” Both boys swallowed, and Ash shifted so that he could pull down Gary's pants, and he gently stroked the revealed length.

 

“You're bigger than me.” He asked, fear and awe mingling in his voice.

 

“That's a bad thing?” Gary asked, uncertain.

 

“No, but it will mean that sex will hurt more.” Ash explained slowly, fully willing to bottom, but scared to as well.

 

“Have you... ever touched yourself there?” Gary blushed again, but he needed to know. Ash slowly nodded. “Yeah. It feels good, but it hurts too, sometimes. I've never had anything near this size inside me though, so...”

 

Gary sighed, and pulled Ash against him. “Let's hold off on having sex until I know how to make it so it won't hurt you so much then.”

 

Ash nodded, relieved and disappointed at the same time. “Yeah that might be best.”

 

Gary shifted, pushing his pants off the rest of the way. “For tonight, lets just jack each other off, okay?”

 

“You mean you don't want a blow job?” Ash asked, teasing.

 

“N-not tonight. Maybe tomorrow I'll take you up on that offer, though.” Gary leaned in and kissed Ash again, then lay down on his side. Ash copied him, so that they were facing each other, their bodies pressed lightly together.

 

Moving together they reached down, and gently grabbed the others cock, stroking them together. Their lips met again, and their tongues dueled, adding heat to the rhythm of their hands. They began to lose the rhythm as they both began feeling their orgasms build, but they held back. It was Ash who first added extra attention to the tip, but Gary quickly followed suit. The came at almost the same time, spraying streams of hot cum over both their chests and stomachs.

 

Ash reached over and grabbed the box of tissues. “That was fun.” He got pulled back down for a heated kiss.

 

“Just fun?” Gary teased. His earlier confusion was gone, and he accepted that he was sexually interested in Ash, and since Ash was also interested in him...

 

“Ash, can you stay, for the full week of the conference?” He asked, not sure if he dared to hope or not.

 

“Yes, of course I can. I can use the time to train, and...” He playfully ran a finger over Gary's now limp member.

 

“Do you want to be my boyfriend?” Gary blurted the question out without thinking.

 

“Boyfriend? Gary... are you sure?” Ash asked, reluctant to say yes until he was certain that Gary actually wanted him that way, and not just asking while still high from his orgasm.

 

“I...” Gary didn't know what to say.

 

“Why don't you ask me again in the morning?” Ash suggested.

 

“Okay.” Gary smiled, then grabbed some of the tissues to clean himself up, and Ash did the same. Then they both lay back down, neither wishing to move to the other bed, and they fell asleep tangled in each others arms.


	2. 2

Gary woke the next morning feeling more awake and refreshed than he had in weeks. Shifting slightly to stretch, he realized that there was something warm and heavy lying on top of him... no, not something; someone. Opening his eyes, he glanced down at Ash, who was still asleep and using his chest as a pillow. He frowned momentarily, confused, and then he remembered what had happened the night before, and heat rushed to his cheeks, turning them bright red.

 

Reaching down, he brushed Ash's hair back from his eyes, and the younger boy shifted slightly. “Hey, Ash, wake up.” Gary shook his lover's shoulder gently, and a moment later Ash was blinking up at him, sleepily.

 

“Gary? Why... oh, yeah.” Ash laughed softly as he also remembered what had happened between them. He tried to curl up again, but Gary pushed him away. “Don't you want to cuddle?” Ash asked, confused.

 

“No, I do, I just really need to pee, and I can't get up while you're lying on top of me.” Gary explained, jumping out of bed as soon as Ash moved aside, then quickly pulled his pants on. Unbarring the door, he ran out of the room to find the closest bathroom.

 

Ash slid out of bed as soon as the door was closed again, conscious of the fact that he was naked, and got himself dressed. Then he sat down at the desk and turned the computer terminal on.

 

When Gary returned to the room, he found Ash reading something online. “Hey, what are you reading?” Gary asked, leaning over Ash so that he could see, then blushed.

 

“I'm trying to find a description of how anal sex works...” Ash explained softly, his voice thick with embarrassment.

 

“So that's how you justify reading porn?” Gary laughed, and Ash turned to pout at him. “Actually, it makes sense that porn stories would describe the act.”

 

Ash clicked off the site. “Okay, based on what I just read, the best way to... well, you know...” Ash swallowed, embarrassed to be talking to Gary about this, though he didn't quite know why. “We'll need to get some lube, and then you'll finger me, using the lube, until I can take three or four fingers without showing pain, and then...” He broke off.

 

“That's when I slide... something else in?” Gary finished, blushing.

 

“Yeah.” Ash swallowed again, and shifted, his pants tight from just thinking about Gary being inside him like that.

 

Gary slid his hands down until he found one of Ash's nipples, rubbing the nub gently through the boy's t-shirt. “We should see about getting that lube today.” He whispered into Ash's ear, then gently bit down on the lobe, causing the younger boy to gasp.

 

“We don't have time for this.” Ash reluctantly pulled away from Gary.

 

“That felt good, though, didn't it?” Gary asked, glancing at the clock. Then he cursed under his breath, and dashed to his bag to get dressed properly. “I have to be on the stage in an hour!”

 

Hearing footsteps follow him, he turned to tell Ash something, when he felt hands gently descend onto his shoulders, and massaged him gently. “Hey, relax, you'll be great up there.” Ash smiled, as he felt the tension ease out of Gary. “I'm going to go get a good seat.”

 

“You want to watch because of Leavanny?” Not expecting Ash to want to watch something like that, he automatically assumed that it was because his Pokemon was being used for the presentation.

 

But Ash shook his head. “I want to be there for you. Not that I'm likely to understand most of what you'll be saying, I'll admit that. But you're still my best friend, and I want to be there for you.” Ash paused then added. “Besides, this way, if Leavanny gets nervous or anything... Well, he shouldn't have any issues, but...” Ash shrugged.

 

“You'll be there to help calm him down.” Gary nodded, and turned so that he could hold Ash's hand. “I think I'm more than just your best friend now, though.”

 

Ash nodded slowly. “You're my... lover.” Leaning down, he kissed Gary's lips softly, then pulled back so that the older boy could finish getting dressed. “I'm going to go find Leavanny and Pikachu and make sure that they've eaten breakfast.”

 

“Can you do me a favor and check on Umbreon as well?” Gary called over his shoulder as he searched his bag for his dress shirt.

 

“Of course.” Ash smiled, then left the room. Starting to retrace his steps, he realized that, finding his door locked, Pikachu likely would have gone to find Iris and Cilan. He started towards their room, then realized that they would ask why he had locked Pikachu out for the night, and wondered what he would say. That he'd done so to have sex with Gary? No, the truth was too embarrassing; his friends didn't know that he was gay, and he was scared to tell them. Scared that they wouldn't want to travel with him after finding out.

 

Sure enough, he found Pikachu, Leavanny, and Gary's Umbreon with Iris and Cilan in the courtyard - after realizing that they would be up and about already, he'd headed outside instead - having a picnic breakfast.

 

“Where were you last night, Ash?” Iris shot him an odd look as he joined his friends. “We went to say goodnight but couldn't find you.” Ash helped himself to some of the food as she spoke.

 

Swallowing, Ash replied to her question carefully. “Gary wanted to turn in early, and asked that I do the same so I wouldn't wake him up - and I forgot to tell you which room is his. Sorry.” The last word was mostly addressed to Pikachu, who did not understand why he couldn't have slept with Ash like he normally did. The electric mouse climbed up onto his trainer's shoulder after finishing his own breakfast. Leavanny was nearby, with Umbreon, both with empty food bowls in front of them.

 

“And what about Pikachu? Ash, its not like you to forget about him and not let Pikachu sleep with you!” Iris grilled him.

 

Ash blushed, and set the food aside, wondering what to say. Cilan noticed, and asked Iris to leave them for a moment. Iris grumbled, but left to give them some privacy.

 

“Are you and Gary... involved with one another?” He asked gently, as soon as they were alone.

 

“What do you mean?” Ash pretended not to know what Cilan was asking about. He lost his appetite, and simply toyed with a slice of toast nervously.

 

“Ash... I know that you like boys.” When Ash opened his mouth to protest, Cilan lay a finger against the younger boy's lips to quiet him. “I don't mind that you're gay.”

 

“How long have you known? And how did you find out?” Ash sighed, and relaxed as Cilan seemed sincere in not caring that Ash swung the 'wrong' way. He took a bite out of the toast, not because he was still hungry, but out of habit.

 

“Almost as long as I've known you. I noticed right away that you tend to blush when an attractive boy- at least, attractive from your point of view, since I can't tell when another guy is attractive- is around. Also, you act very self-conscious around certain boys- Chili, for instance.”

 

Ash started as Cilan mentioned his brother. “I...” He broke off, swallowing hard.

 

“I don't mind if you have a crush on my brother.” Cilan moved so that he was sitting next to Ash, close enough to lay a reassuring hand on his friend's knee.

 

“I... don't have a crush on Chili, but I do find him very attractive, and I... my body reacts to his presence.” Ash blushed harder as he confessed that being around Chili made him hard.

 

Cilan relaxed as Ash denied having a crush on his brother, because he knew that Chili was not interested in Ash that way, and he didn't want his friend to be hurt by his brother.

 

“What about Gary? Did you have sex with him?” Cilan asked casually.

 

Ash shook his head, and would have blushed harder, had it been physically possible for him to. “No... but we did sleep together, naked in the same bed, and we kissed. A lot. And... and we talked about having sex.” Ash hesitated, then added. “I did not deliberately lock Pikachu out. I was so focused on my new feelings for Gary, and what Gary's feelings for me were, that I actually forgot about him.” Sadness and guilt colored Ash's voice as he made the confession.

 

Laying a gentle hand on Ash's shoulder, Cilan offered to take Pikachu for the night as long as they stayed at the center. Ash simply nodded.

 

“So that's what happened.” Iris poked her head out of a nearby bush, where she had hidden herself to listen to her friend's conversation. She looked at Ash oddly, having been oblivious to his attraction to men, then shrugged. “It's fine by me, so long as he doesn't break your heart, and you don't just forget about Pikachu again.”

 

Ash impulsively hugged her, happy that she was also okay with him being gay. “Guys... if I'd known sooner that you're both okay with me being gay, I wouldn't have tried to hide it.” Wiping away a few tears of relief that had leaked from his eyes, he stood up. “I'm heading over to the conference hall. Gary's making his presentation in fifteen minutes, and he'll need Leavanny.” Abandoning the attempt to eat Ash stood, stroking Pikachu, who had sat silently on his head the entire length of his conversation with Cilan. He went to recall Leavanny, then realized that Gary still had that Pokeball. Shrugging, he walked over and asked Leavanny to follow him, then he headed towards the conference hall. Umbreon seemed to understand that Ash was going to find Gary, and followed him as well.

 

Slipping backstage, he quickly found Gary. “I take it that you explained to Leavanny what you'll need him to do today when I was in the bathroom yesterday?”

 

“Yes, I did, as I took his measurements.” Glancing around as Gary spoke, Ash noticed that they were alone, and took the chance to kiss his friend quickly.

 

“What was that for?” Gary asked, surprised.

 

“For luck, and a promise for later.” Ash whispered, succeeding in flashing a slightly seductive smile this time.

 

Gary swallowed, as his cock jumped at Ash's implications for later. Then he remembered that he was going to be speaking in front of a large crowd, and his arousal evaporated.

 

“Ash... I'm scared.” He confessed softly.

 

“Don't be, you'll be fine. You were born to be on the stage, and you were never scared about talking in front of our class when we were little.” Ash smiled slightly, dropping the flirty tone. “Relax and you'll be fine.” He leaned in and kissed Gary again, not caring if anyone saw them, just as Gary was announced. “Go, I'll watch from back here.” Ash put his hand on Umbreon's head to keep him from following his trainer.

 

“Umbreon, stay with Ash.” Gary chuckled, as Umbreon just shook Ash's hand off of him. Reluctantly, the Pokemon curled up next to Ash and pretended to nap.

 

Gary recalled Leavanny to his Pokeball, then headed out onto the stage.

 

 

Meanwhile

 

“Looks like everyone's gathering in that one building for a show or something.” James noted, setting down the binoculars he was holding.

 

“Good, that means fewer people in the Pokemon Center itself.” Jessie grinned. “We can sneak in the back.”

 

“In broad daylight?” Meowth asked, doubtfully.

 

“The show won't last all day.” James shot back. “We wait half an hour, to let things settle down, then we go for it.” He was also worried, but more because he'd spotted the twerp with the Axew than because it was broad daylight. “We have to be careful, though. The twerps are here.”

 

“Then we go in the front with our new robot and grab Pikachu.” Jessie smiled that smile of hers that promised pain to anyone who dared to argue against her.

 

James swallowed as he nodded in agreement. Lately he'd been noticing that the lead twerp, Ash, was growing into a very handsome young man, and his natural proclivity was towards males. His brief childhood crush on his fiancee, Jessiebelle, proved to be the exception rather than the rule for him. And he still didn't know what had come over him regarding the ghost girl.

 

Pushing his growing attraction to Ash to the back of the mind, he hoped that they would not run into him, but knew it was inevitable since they were, once more, going after Pikachu. Secretly, James wanted to give up on capturing Pikachu, since he knew that they would never win against the twerps, but he didn't know how to convince Jessie of that. Also, it would mean less time around Ash, and therefore, less chance of him embarrassing himself by accidentally revealing his attraction to the boy.

 

He quietly slipped away while Jessie and Meowth discussed the plan of the day, to relieve himself, and quickly jack off. He knew that he'd be less likely to get hard around Ash if he'd already relieved that urge. And the pants that went with his Team Rocket uniform were too tight for him to easily hide when he was hard; actually the pants tended to showcase it, to his eternal embarrassment. Though, thankfully, only Jessie and Meowth had seemed to notice, so far. Not that either ever said anything about it to him, he just noticed them shoot him knowing looks from time to time.

 

Once he was sure he was far enough away that Jessie couldn't find him easily, James hid himself in a convenient copse of trees, and unzipped his pants to relieve his bladder. He was already half hard just from just thinking about seeing Ash, and he began stroking himself as soon as he was done peeing. Usually, he liked to tease himself a bit before he got serious, but he knew that he didn't have long before he'd be missed, so he simply stroked himself hard, the way he knew would make himself cum quickly. Moments later, his cum was splattered across the tree he'd used as a urinal, and he was shoving his rapidly softening cock back into his pants when Jessie found him.

 

“So that's why you slipped away. We needed you, James, you always have all the good ideas. But your growing crush on Pikachu's trainer got the better of you.” She nodded to the cum stains on the tree.

 

He blushed hard. “You noticed that?” He asked, checking that his zipper was properly done up, and pull his gloves back on. He always removed them before doing anything with his cock so they wouldn't get dirty.

 

“It was hard not to, pun intended.” She sighed. “You should really wear looser pants around the twerp if you don't want him to figure out that you want to fuck him.”

 

James blushed even harder as he realized that it was more obvious than he'd thought when he was hard.

 

“Then again, maybe he'll let you have a go at his ass, and Meowth and I could use his distraction to swipe Pikachu away from the other twerps.”

 

“Never!” James spat the word at her. “I'll never use Ash that way!” He sighed mentally, knowing that if Jessie would think of something like that, then so would Ash. Which decreased his chances of actually fucking the boy further; not that he minded much since he didn't think he had much of a chance to begin with.

 

“Anyway, Meowth's gone to get the robot, so we should meet up with him.” Jessie walked off without waiting for a reply, and James followed, his face still bright red.

 

“I doubt Ash is gay, he doesn't really act like he likes boys. If any of the twerps are gay, its the green haired boy.” James eventually retorted.

 

“I wouldn't be so sure of that, James. I have seen the main twerp look at boys, and I think the green haired one is actually straight, though he does give the impression of being gay. What's the term for guys who acts gay but are actually straight...? I can't remember.”

 

“Metrosexual.” James replied without thinking. Then he stopped and considered what she had said, and realized that it made more sense for Cilan to be metrosexual rather than actually being gay. Not that his sexuality mattered much to him; it was Ash's he wanted to figure out. Was Jessie right about Ash being gay?

 

At that moment, Meowth found them in the robot, and they climbed in to attempt to steal more Pokemon for the boss.

 

 

Ash yawned, more bored listening to Gary's presentation than he'd anticipated. Of course, he hardly understood anything that his lover was talking about- no surprise there. Not that Gary cared, he'd caught sight of Ash yawning earlier, and had done nothing, just shot him an 'why am I not surprised' look, without losing track of what he'd been saying.

 

Then he realized that Gary had asked the audience if anyone had a Sewaddle or Swadloon on hand. Several people had came forward, and Leavanny got to work making new leaf clothing for the multiple Sewaddle and single Swadloon they had produced.

 

Gary had explained that the care with which he'd made the leaf clothing showed how loved he was by his trainer- and then Gary had gestured to Ash that he should come out on stage.

 

“This is Ash, another Trainer from my home town- Pallet Town in the Kanto Region. He's Leavanny's trainer.” Ash bowed towards the audience as they applauded his entrance.

 

Leavanny came over to him and placed one of the leaf collars made for a Swaddle around his neck, and the audience laughed. Thanking Leavanny, Ash told him to go make new clothes for the remaining Sewaddle.

 

“As you can see, the bond between Leavanny and Ash is strong. Love and affection are a much better basis for a true connection between humans and Pokemon than fear and hate. Pokemon raised to love and respect their trainers are proven to be more likely to give it their all in battle than Pokemon raised to fear their trainers.” He broke off to bow. “And that concludes my presentation. Thank you for listening.”

 

As Gary stepped back from the microphone, Ash noticed that he was drenched in sweat as he held his breath. To his surprise but not Ash's, everyone in the audience started clapping, and then, one by one at first, then in waves, they started standing, still applauding.

 

“Told you you'd be fine.” Ash laughed and grabbed Gary's hands; both of them so that the audience wouldn't know that they were lovers and simply think that they were good friends. Squeezing gently, he was rewarded with a warm smile, and a quick return squeeze, before Gary pulled one hand away. Still holding Ash's other hand, he turned back to the audience, and the two boys bowed in unison, like actors after a successful performance of a popular play. Leavanny bowed with them, to the audiences surprise, and admiration. Then the conference hall began emptying of all but the few trainers still waiting for their Sewaddle to get new clothes made as Leavanny had clothed the Swadloon first.

 

Suddenly, a large crash shook the building; and a large Mecha-Haxorus crashed through the wall. “What is that?!” Ash exclaimed, clutching Gary's hand tighter, barely noticing when Gary laced his fingers through Ash's.

 

“I don't know.” Gary swallowed, then shouted; “Get your Sewaddle back into their Pokeballs! Quickly, it's not safe for them here!”

 

At that moment, a seam opened in the top portion of the robotic Pokemon, and Team Rocket rose up on a platform, Jessie and James standing back to back, and Meowth kneeling in front of them.

 

Without prompting, they launched straight into their motto, with Jessie leading as usual:

 

“You must have questions, we're impressive indeed.”

 

“But answers will come when we feel the need.”

 

“Bringing the blinding white light of evil into the future!”

 

“Thrusting the hammer of justice down onto the black darkness of the universe!”

 

“Carving our names in the Rock of Eternity!” Meowth added his line right on time.

 

“The fiery destroyer, Jessie!”

 

“And with thunderous emotion, I am James...” James stuttered slightly as he said his name, having finally noticed that Ash was holding hands with another boy.

 

“Wisest of the wise, Meowth!”

 

“And now gather, under the name of Team Rocket!” Meowth and Jessie finished, but James had fallen silent. Ash blushed as he realized that the blue haired man was staring at him; or rather his wide eyes flickered back and forth between his face and his and Gary's linked hands.

 

Jealously spiked through James, as they lowered back into the Mecha-Haxorus robot, and he pressed the button to activate the suction hose with more force than was necessary.

 

“James!” Jessie grabbed his hand to keep him from punching straight through the control panel. “I saw it too! But that doesn't mean...”

 

“That he doesn't like me? Yes, I think it does. If I had acted sooner...” He broke off, blinking tears out of his eyes. Taking a few deep breaths, he got his emotions back under control- he was no longer a teenager and he wasn't going to let the sight of Ash holding someone else's hand break his control.

 

“That boy looked familiar-” Jessie broke off, then exclaimed; “He's the Pokemon Professor's grandson! That's who the other boy is! What was his name again?”

 

“Gary Oak.” Meowth piped up. “It's Gary Oak that the twerp is holding hands with.” Meowth confirmed as he skillfully controlled the robot, then laughed as Pikachu's thunderbolt recharged their batteries.

 

“You can zap us all you- What's going on!” Jessie exclaimed as the whole robot rose into the air.

 

“It's that Umbreon; it's using Psychic on us!” Meowth explained, as he was the only one who'd been paying any attention to what was going on outside.

 

“Umbreon! Use Shadow Ball!” Gary commanded, after also realizing that Umbreon was using Psychic - he had not commanded that the move be used, Umbreon had launched the attack all on his own.

 

Without missing a beat, Umbreon launched a perfect Shadow Ball and hit the robot dead center - which of course caused the robot to explode and all the stolen Pokeballs to rain down upon them. Ash was not surprised in the least – that's what always seemed to happen with a central hit to any of Team Rocket's robots.

 

Ash then glanced down at their still linked hands, wondering if he should let go, but Gary gripped his hand even tighter when he tried to.

 

“I don't care what anyone else thinks... except for your friends, of course.” Gary whispered.

 

Smiling, Ash relaxed. “They already know that I'm gay and that we're lovers.”

 

“Then there's nothing to worry about.” Gary turned and walked over to where Umbreon was standing, and Ash had to follow since he still wasn't letting go.

 

“You did a good job today.” Gary finally released Ash's hand so that he could hug his Pokemon.

 

“Which Pokemon do you have with you? Besides Umbreon, of course.” Ash asked, suddenly curious.

 

“I have my Nidoking, Blastoise, Electivire, and Arcanine with me, as well as Umbreon and Deino.” Gary recited calmly. “Have you caught any of the Unova starters? I haven't come across them yet.”

 

Ash only laughed in reply. When Gary turned to shoot him a confused look, he notice that Ash was holding three of his Pokeballs, which he tossed into the air in unison. Snivy, Oshawott, and Tepig all appeared at the same time.

 

“Does that answer your question?” Ash asked rhetorically. “Snivy, Oshawott, Tepig, this is my childhood friend Gary.” Kneeling down next to Gary, he then proceeded to explain how he caught each of them. “Oshawott followed me after I left Professor Juniper's lab, and is the second Pokemon I caught in Unova... though in this case 'caught' isn't really the right word, since Oshawott chose me as his trainer without the need of a battle.”

 

Oshawott puffed up his chest, and then Snivy pushed him aside, as she had taken a liking to Gary. “What about your Snivy?”

 

“She was hard to catch, and if it wasn't for the Pidove that I caught when I first got here she would have gotten away from me. One of her main moves is attract, and, except for Pidove, all my Pokemon at that time were male. I actually didn't know that Pidove was a female, though, until Snivy used attract and it failed to affect Pidove.” Ash sweat-dropped, then continued. “I had to earn her respect before she'd allow me to capture her, since she'd run away from her former trainer and, at that point, didn't seem to trust humans. She was my fourth Pokemon captured in Unova.”

 

“So you caught Pidove, then Oshawott, then who came third?” Gary asked, noting the gap.

 

“Tepig.” Ash had to swallow hard to clear his throat at the memory of how he first met Tepig.

 

“What happened with Tepig?” Gary asked, concerned when he noticed how quite Ash had gotten.

 

“His previous trainer had abandoned him at the Battle Club in Accumula Town, by tying him to a post. Somehow the rope had gotten tangled around Tepig's snout, so by the time I arrived there, a few days later, Tepig was half starved, and covered in soot. He'd been causing some panic, by running around looking for food, but was unable to eat due to the rope.” Ash laughed then, as he remembered his mistake.

 

“What's funny about that?” Gary asked, tensing.

 

“Nothing, I'm laughing about something else. When I first heard about the Pokemon causing a panic, I mistook him for another Pokemon entirely when I saw him on the security camera- soot covered, and too thin from being unable to eat, I mistook Tepig for an...” Ash reached over and touched Umbreon's head. “Umbreon.” He finished. “Umbreon are rare in Unova, so I caused quite a stir when I suggested that Tepig was one after seeing the camera footage.” Ash scratched Umbreon's ears as he finished speaking.

 

Gary relaxed again, now that he understood what Ash had found funny. “Maybe you were thinking about me at the time, and that's what caused you to make that mistake.” Then he lifted Tepig into his lap, examining him. Smiling, he handed the pig Pokemon back to Ash a minute later. “You've done an excellent job raising him, I can see no sign that he'd ever been abused.”

 

Ash blushed slightly as Gary complimented him. “Thank you, but Tepig's not my first Pokemon that had been abused by its former trainer.”

 

“I know, your Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle were all rescue Pokemon, and you did an excellent job with all three. Prior to evolution, anyway. Though I am wondering something, how did you eventually get Charizard to listen to you?”

 

Shifting uncomfortably as he remembered how Charmander had stopped listening to him after evolving. “Yeah, it took a long time, but now I'm good friends with Charizard. While I was traveling in the Orange Islands, Charizard lost a battle to a Poliwrath who had used Ice Beam. I stayed up all night working on warming Charizard back up, as the flame on his tail had almost gone out, and my selflessness is what won him over once more.”

 

Gary grabbed Ash's hand as he finished speaking, having actually already heard the story from his Grandfather. “You never stopped trying to win Charizard over, and that's what matters. Same with the Chimchar you took from Paul, you were there and never stopped trying, even when he lost control while Blaze was active. I heard about how you'd brave the flames to hold Chimchar until he calmed down again.” Gary smiled, and shifted closer, leaning in to kiss Ash.

 

“I... I never knew that you were following my progress in Sinnoh.” Ash whispered as the kiss ended.

 

“Of course I was. I may have been to busy to see you often, but I made sure I knew where you were. It wasn't entirely accidental that we ran into each other when I was working with those Shieldon. I didn't know for a fact that you'd travel that way, but I took that assignment knowing that it was between the last city you'd visited and the next one you were headed towards.” Gary confessed, his heart fluttering.

 

Speechless, Ash simply kissed Gary again, then jumped back as rapid footsteps approached from outside.

 

“Maybe this isn't the best place for a make-out session.” Ash laughed, and Gary joined him in laughing as they stood and recalled their Pokemon, with Pikachu climbing back up to lay down on Ash's head again.

 

“Ash! Gary! What happened in here?” Iris asked as she ran into the room seconds later.

 

Waiting until Cilan, Officer Jenny, and Nurse Joy caught up with Iris, Ash and Gary quickly explained Team Rockets attack, and then they started rounding up all the Pokeballs stolen from the Pokemon Center, one of which proved to be for Gary's Deino.

 

Then they helped with the clean-up; Gary ended up swapping out his Nidoking for his Alakazam, and, together with Umbreon, their combined Psychic attacks made rapid work of the rubble, and a local contractor would be examining the wall the next day to begin repairs.

 

But even with the help of Gary's Pokemon, the clean-up still took most of the day, and it was dusk before Ash could slip away with Gary to be alone - after telling Pikachu to go spend the night with Iris and Cilan again.

 

Once alone, however, neither boy knew what to do, and both felt shy due to their mutual inexperience.

 

Ash pulled them both over to the bed, after jamming the chair under the door handle again, but all they ended up doing was kiss. Gary was too drained from helping clean up the mess left by the robot attack, Ash was too confused by James staring at him, and neither was in the mood for sex.

 

“Let's just go to sleep, it's been a long day.” Ash commented, after the fourth failed attempt at making-out. One of them kept pulling back just as the kisses started getting heated; Gary, usually.

 

“Yeah, it has been.” Gary undressed and gestured for Ash to do the same, then they curled up nude together to try and sleep. But Ash couldn't; even after Gary's breathing had evened out next to him, Ash could not calm his mind, so he got up, dressed himself, and slipped out of the room to look for the man who was haunting his mind; James of Team Rocket.


	3. 3

“Team Rocket's blasting of again!” As the robot exploded, the Teammates cried out their classic line, not that anyone else heard them this time. They crash landed about a mile away, once more without sustaining any major injury.

 

“Why does that redheaded brat get to hold the Twerp's hand; and presumably fondle other things; and I don't!” James punched a nearby tree, half in anger, and half out of envy.

 

“Because the other boy never tried to make off with the Twerp's precious Pikachu?” Jessie responded, abandoning her attempts to calm her partner down. James had been alternately ranting and crying for hours now, torn between being happy that Ash was, in fact, gay, and jealous that he'd already found another lover.

 

Suddenly, he spun around and ran off in the direction of the Pokemon Center. It was now fully dark, and he knew that Ash would be in bed by now, but he still hoped for a chance to just talk to the boy and see where it would lead, if anywhere.

 

He came across Ash moments later, literally running into the teen, knocking him over. “Hey watch were you- oh it's you!” Ash exclaimed as he stood up again.

 

“I was just looking for you.” James whispered, but he could see that something was wrong. Ash was tense, like he was preparing for a fight.

 

“What was your problem back there? Did it really bother you that much that I chose to hold another boys hand? That I'm gay?” Ash spat at him.

 

Realizing that the boy had noticed his staring, but misinterpreted it, he held up his hands to show that he wished to speak, but Ash went right on ranting.

 

“Or may-” He stopped, as he was cut off suddenly and blinked up at the older man, as James pulled back from kissing him.

 

“Now if you'll let me explain, you have it all wrong. Ash... I don't hate that you're gay, quite the opposite. I was startled to see you holding your boyfriends hand like that since I hadn't known that you swung that way. And I'll admit to being a bit envious of him, but I don't hate you for it.”

 

Ash touched his lips gently. “You kissed me?” It was more of a question than a statement.

 

“I needed to get you to stop talking somehow. Ash...” He stepped closer, but the boy twisted away from him.

 

“We... I'm with Gary.” Ash sounded like he was saying that as much to convince himself as for James' sake.

 

“Do you want to be with me physically?” James asked, not trying to follow since he had no desire to force the boy into submission.

 

“Yes.” Ash looked up and met James' eyes. “Yes, I want you inside of me. And maybe... if things were different...” Ash sighed. “You were the first person I ever dreamed about sexually, the one who made me realize that I like boys and not girls. Not that I ever told anyone about my crush on you. I didn't think my friends would approve, and...” Ash glanced around as though uncertain that they were truly alone.

 

“You were worried about Jessie and Meowth?” James asked, correctly guessing that that was who Ash was looking for.

 

“Yeah. That you would use sex to distract me while they...” James kissed Ash again to silence him once more. But when he went to pull back, Ash grabbed him and kissed him back, briefly.

 

“I would never do anything to hurt you.” Ash shot him a look that was half 'I know' and half 'yeah, right!' but did not step back from the embrace. When James tried to hug him, he slid his own arms around the older man's waist, loosely.

 

“Believe me, Ash. I've accepted that we will never succeed in taking Pikachu away from you, but Jessie is too stubborn to be convinced of that. She keeps saying that we just need a better plan, a better machine...” James sighed, and stroked Ash's cheek. “So believe me that I would never seek to distract you with sex just to separate you from your Pokemon.”

 

“I do believe you... I just don't trust Jessie to not act behind your back. She's to... to...” Ash struggled to find the right word.

 

“Too much of a conniving bitch?” James supplied, causing Ash to laugh and agree. His laughter caused his body to rub against James, and he realized just how happy the man was to be holding him.

 

“You're hard!” Ash gasped, pulling away.

 

Nodding, James let him go. “So are you.” He added, wanting to touch the visible bulge in Ash's pants, but did not know how Ash would react to that. He was secretly amazed that he'd been able to even kiss the boy without Ash retaliating against him.

 

“How long have you and Gary been together?” He asked, after a few moments of silence stretched between them, wanting to know how serious the relationship was.

 

“A day, give or take a few hours.” Ash laughed again, but this time it was nervous laughter. “We are still definitely a couple... but I don't think it's going to last. He asked me to be his full time boyfriend, but I'm going to tell him no.”

 

“No? Why no?” James couldn't help the spark of hope that crept into his voice.

 

“Because we're not going the same way when we leave here.” Ash whispered, sadly. “I want to say yes, but I don't think a long distance relationship would be a good idea... Maybe when were both back in Pallet Town things will be different, but for now...” He trailed off.

 

“Then maybe we can... later, once things have been settled between you and Gary, and you've gone your separate ways again.” James turned to leave, but Ash stopped him.

 

“Only if you can guarantee that Jessie and Meowth won't try anything while we...” He broke off, blushing.

 

“I'll do my best to ensure that they won't try anything while I'm with you.” James promised.

 

“And that should they actually attempt anything, it will be without your knowledge.” Ash added, and James repeated his promise to include Ash's addition. Then Ash glanced up at the moon, realizing it was almost midnight.

 

“I should go.” Ash turned, then hesitated. When he turned back around, however, James was already gone, so he sighed and returned to the Pokemon Center. Halfway there, he stopped, and turned toward the twenty-four hour pharmacy instead of the wing where the room he was sharing with Gary was.

 

When he did return to the room a few minutes later, he was clutching a small bag containing personal lubrication and a box of condoms, which a bored cashier had sold to him, after offering to help him test them out. Ash had just ignored her blatant flirting and left as soon as she'd given him his change.

 

He opened the door slowly, not wanting to wake Gary, but the older boy was already awake, sitting up in bed, idly reading a book he'd fetched from his bag. “Where did you go?” Gary asked, as soon as he saw Ash, casually setting the book aside, not wanting Ash to know that his absence had worried him.

 

“I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk down to the pharmacy.” He set the bag down so that the bottle of lube spilled out. “With all the excitement, we forgot to buy some earlier.”

 

Relaxing, Gary accepted Ash's story without question; he knew that the other boy liked taking walks at night when he couldn't sleep. He did suspect, however, the truth that the pharmacy trip was an afterthought, not the main purpose of him going out so late. He never suspected, though, that Ash had gone out to meet someone, James least of all.

 

Ash stripped as Gary checked to see what else Ash had bought, and smiled when he saw the condoms, but didn't comment on them. Blushing, Ash whispered; “I hope they fit you, since I'll be bottoming. The first time, anyway.”

 

“Do you want me to wear a condom?” Gary asked, and was surprised when Ash nodded. “Why?”

 

“Because you told me that you're not a virgin...” Ash trailed off, blushing harder.

 

“So you're worried that I might have caught something when I had sex with Maya? Don't worry about that, I got myself tested afterward, and I'm clean.” Gary swallowed hard, as Ash slid his boxer's off and climbed into the bed naked. “And since you're still a virgin...” Trailing off, Gary blushed and looked away.

 

“Does that bother you? That I'm still a virgin?” Ash asked, confused.

 

“No, I like knowing that I'll be your first. Its just...” He shook his head. “It's nothing.” Leaning in, Gary kissed Ash, and pulled him down on top of him. But once more, he found himself pushing Ash away just as things started getting heated.

 

“What's wrong?” Ash asked, trying to swallow his frustration. “You'll hold my hand in public, but you won't do anything sexy in private?” Ash shook his head, his eyes wide. “If you don't want to have sex with me...”

 

“Ash! I do want to have sex with you!” Gary was alarmed that Ash would think that he was just leading his friend on.

 

“Then why all the mixed messages?” Ash asked, even more confused now.

 

Gary hesitated, then gently pushed Ash off of him. “Because of Maya, I think.” Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he settled himself down next to Ash, but made no effort to touch his lover.

 

“Maya? The girl you lost your virginity to?” Ash frowned, slightly hurt at the lack of touch. “What does she have to do with us?”

 

“Nothing, and everything. I told you that I slept with her, but... there's more to it than that.” Hesitating, Gary sighed, and decided to tell Ash some of what had happened. “It was a year after I'd come to Sinnoh, while I was fourteen, when I first met her. She had moved to Sinnoh from Hoenn to work with Professor Rowan, as a research assistant. Since she proved to have similar research goals as me, we were assigned to work together. At first, she just ignored me or treated me a bit like an annoying younger brother- she's five years older than me, by the way. But then, after I turned fifteen, that changed, and she began dropping hints that she wanted to mess around with me, when we were alone. In public she still acted professional towards me, but in private...” Gary broke off, uncertain how to explain what had happened next.

 

“Did she molest you?” Ash asked, quietly.

 

“Not exactly, but she did begin coming into my room at odd moments. I'd volunteered to take the smallest room so I wouldn't have to bunk with anyone else. We were not allowed to lock our doors, so she started coming and going from my room as she pleased, and even deliberately walked in on me showering a few times. It was... confusing, and embarrassing. I did like her, she was very pretty, but I didn't know what she wanted from me, and I found it uncomfortable to be naked around her. Turned out all she wanted was sex, and nothing else.”

 

Gary shifted, one hand unconsciously dropping to his thigh to trace a set of old scars. Unaware that he'd been touching them, he jumped when Ash's finger traced the deepest scar. “I'm sorry.”

 

“For what?” Gary's eyes dropped, and he remembered how he'd been injured.

 

“If I hadn't run off and provoked that Raticate, you wouldn't have been attacked...” Lost in memory, both boys silently recalled how Gary had pushed Ash out of the way, shielding the younger boy with his own body- and almost dying as a result. The Raticate's claw's had come close to tearing his femoral artery, and as it was, had Ash not tried to stop the bleeding by applying pressure to the wound, Gary might not have survived the attack. The leg wound was the deepest, but the Raticate's claws had also raked across his chest, stomach, and sides, before it bounded off somewhere. He'd never asked what had become of that Pokemon, hadn't wanted to know if it had been put down for attacking them. Ash had been uninjured, but was shaken and so covered in Gary's blood by the time help had arrived that they'd both been taken to the hospital.

 

“Ash... yes, it's true that you had provoked the attack... but you also saved my life afterwards. I never told you, but I'd been told at the hospital that the claws had missed the artery by millimeters, and even so, I'd lost so much blood that had you not immediately begun calling for help and applying pressure... I would have died!” He watched as guilt and relief chased each other across his friend's face. “And anyway, that was almost ten years ago now.”

 

“Yeah, but I can still remember it like it was yesterday.” Ash's shoulders shook slightly, and Gary realized with a start that Ash was crying. Without saying another word, he shifted enough to pull the other boy against him tightly, as Ash finally allowed himself to cry out the guilt of having caused his friend to almost be killed by a Pokemon.

 

“Ash... I'm not mad, and I never blamed you for what happened. It's not your fault...” As his hands traced small circles on Ash's back and sides, Gary became increasingly aware that they were both naked, without even the blankets keeping their bodies from touching. Needing a distraction, he resumed the story he had been telling Ash before they had gotten sidetracked.

 

“Maya asked me about the scars the first time she saw me naked, but all I said was that I'd been attacked by a Pokemon as a child. I was too conscious of how close to... well, to other things they were to be comfortable going into details.” Gary smiled, turning his face towards Ash and nuzzled the top of his friends head gently. “It's not like that with you, though. I'm not self-conscious around you in the least, clothed or otherwise.”

 

Lifting his head off Gary's shoulder, Ash glanced up at his friend. “How did you end up in bed with her then?”

 

“She came into my room late one night, and woke me up by... taking something into her mouth.” Gary blushed and looked away, remembering Ash's casual offer to do the same act. “Since I do have a healthy sex drive, and had never been touched like that before, I let her do what she wanted with me without thinking about it; even when she asked for intercourse. I said yes, and we...” He broke off, blushing harder.

 

“You made love to her.” Ash supplied.

 

Gary nodded. “When I woke the next day, she was gone. Expecting to see her at breakfast, I thought nothing of it... but I never saw her again. She'd transferred to another region without telling me and...”

 

“Used you for sex?” Ash was shocked, that anyone could do such a thing. Pulling back, he leaned over the edge of the bed until he could grab his discarded boxers.

 

“What are you doing?” Gary asked, confused.

 

“I don't want to pressure you... but I know I will if we keep sleeping naked together. We can wait as long as you want.” Ash's voice shook with the effort it took to hold back when all he wanted was to touch and be touched. “Now that I understand why-” He was cut off by Gary pushing him roughly onto his back, pinning him to the bed.

 

“Ash! Listen to me; its not like that with you! Ever since we started sharing a bed together, I've been trying to convince myself that you want more than just sex. But my head was still so messed up by Maya that...” He shook his head, as if to clear it. “Now I do believe that you'd never fuck me than leave me like she did, so... Ash, let's make love tonight. Prove me right, by still being here in the morning.” Leaning down he kissed the younger boy deeply, and Ash melted into the kiss.

 

Flinging his arms around his lover's neck, Ash let the boxers drop back down to the floor, forgotten. As one of his legs slid up to wrap around Gary's waist, Ash lifted his hips, eager for some friction on his aching cock. Gary pulled back from the kiss, laughing breathlessly.

 

“Someone's impatient.” Still laughing, Gary, began kissing a trail from Ash's ear down his neck and torso until he reached a nipple. Slowly, Gary tried first licking, then sucking the nub, and was rewarded with small pleasure sounds from his lover. But it wasn't until he bit down that Ash screamed for him, as pure pleasure flooded the teen's body. Ash's back bowed, as he arced upward, into Gary's mouth, just as Gary removed it.

 

Moving fast, he leaned upward to steal another kiss from Ash's lips, then he took the boys leaking cock into his mouth, surprising the younger boy. As he kissed and sucked the tip, he used Ash's distraction to slid a finger inside his virginal opening, after somehow managing to open the new bottle of lube one handed. When the boy did not react by showing pain, he quickly added a second finger, and then a third, flexing his digits as he went to try and stretch Ash's muscles further. He found Ash's prostate quite by accident, as his finger bumped hard against the sensitive bundle of nerves, causing Ash to scream again, loudly.

 

“Ash!” He pulled his hand out and slid up, clamping the hand that had been wrapped around the base of the younger boys cock over his mouth. “Do you want the entire Pokemon center to know what were doing?”

 

Shaking his head, Ash realized just how loud he'd been, blushing hotly. Then he rolled over, pressing his face into the pillow even as he lifted his hips invitingly. “Take me.” He turned his head just enough that the words wouldn't be muffled. “I'll use the pillow to muffle any sounds I make, since I don't think I'll be able to keep quiet on my own.” Then he looked thoughtful. “And I thought that these rooms were soundproofed?”

 

“They are, but only partially. Enough to keep someones snoring contained, but screaming like you just did is still bound to be heard in the next room anyway.” Gary tried to resume fingering Ash, but the other boy pulled away.

 

“Unless you want me to cum without feeling your cock inside me you'd best just...” He broke off, screaming wordlessly in mixed pleasure and pain as Gary thrust suddenly into him, both hands on Ash's hips to steady himself.

 

Letting Ash adjust, Gary rested for a moment, fully sheathed inside his friend's body, then slowly began pulling out and pushing back in. It wasn't until he was certain that the pain had faded that he began fucking Ash in earnest, finding an easy rhythm that brushed the head of his cock over Ash's prostate on every second or third thrust.

 

Soon enough, he felt the warm tightening of things low in his body that indicated he was close, and slipped a hand around to stroke Ash's cock in time with his thrusts, wanting his friend to cum first. Sure enough, only moments later, he felt Ash's body shudder and tighten around him as hot semen shot over his hand to splatter the sheets below. Unable to resist the new tightness, he followed, spilling his own seed deep within Ash. The he pulled out, and lay down next to Ash, panting.

 

“That... that was...” He shook his head and laughed silently, as Ash just nodded, smiling.

 

Ash stood a minute later, cleaned himself up, then stumbled over to the second bed. “Let's sleep over here tonight, it's not as... wet as the bed you're still lying on.”

 

Laughing, Gary stood, then caught site of the still unopened box of condoms, but just shrugged. He hadn't been planning on wearing one anyway.

 

After cleaning himself up, he slid into the second bed, spooning up behind Ash, and moments later both boys were sound asleep.


	4. 4

Ash woke the next day feeling more awake and satisfied with life than he ever had before. Shifting slightly, he felt the warm weight of Gary's body still spooned up against him, and realized that he had woken up before his friend for once. That was rare; Gary was almost always awake before he was at sleepovers when they were little.

 

Smiling slightly, he shifted to try and roll over onto his back and watch Gary sleep, only to realize just how full his bladder was. He bit back a groan as he slid lightly out from under Gary's arm and pulled on his pants and shirt, but stopped when he reached the door. The memory of Gary confessing his tragic romantic past came crashing back, and he realized that Gary would freak if he woke up alone. But he also knew that he was only moments away from wetting himself, so he ran to the closest washroom, praying that he would make it back before Gary woke up.

 

But it was not to be, as Gary opened his mere seconds after the door closed, the sound having woken him up. Reaching over, he felt where the sheets were still warm from Ash's body, but quickly realized that he was alone in the bed. He pushed himself upright, and, looking around blinking, saw that he was alone in the room. Swallowing his mounting panic, he told himself that Ash must have had a good reason to leave him alone, and that the other boy would be right back.

 

Sure enough, less than five minutes later Ash returned, blushing sheepishly when he saw that Gary was up. “You're awake. Sorry that I wasn't here when you woke up, but I really had to pee.” He slid onto the bed and wrapped his arms around his friend's waist.

 

Relaxing, Gary hugged Ash back. “I thought that it was something like that. Something important or urgent, otherwise you wouldn't have left me alone...” Breaking off, he took a shuddering breath, not realizing that he was crying silently until Ash wiped the tears from his cheek.

 

“I'm sorry.” Ash repeated, before gently kissing Gary's lips. “I wanted to be here, to prove that I'm not going anywhere.” Ash blushed, then added. “If I left, then I wouldn't get to have sex with you again. Last night was amazing and I can't wait for tonight so we can try something else. Another position or... oral?” Ash blushed harder as he said the last word, and wondered what Gary would think if he knew that Ash was more eager to give than to receive.

 

Allowing himself to be comforted, Gary leaned in and whispered against Ash's lips; “Why should we wait until tonight?”

 

Ash twisted his head away, forcing Gary to kiss his cheek instead of his lips. “Because I don't want this to be just about sex. As amazing as the sex is, I still want to do other things with you. Battle, maybe, or go hiking through the surrounding countryside, or even have a picnic lunch...”

 

At the mention of food, Gary couldn't help but laugh. “Ashy-boy, you never stop thinking about food, do you?” He teased, then kissed Ash's cheek fondly.

 

No longer minding the nickname that he'd once found annoying, Ash joined in laughing. “It's just a suggestion... and no I don't think about food all the time. I wasn't thinking about food, or anything else, last night.” Pushing Gary back onto the bed, Ash realized then that the other boy was still naked. He leaned in for another kiss, then began making his way down Gary's body, stopping here and there to kiss, lick, suck, and finally nip at a nipple.

 

When Gary moaned loudly, Ash bit down harder, pulling the nipple out slightly then letting it snap back. “Do you like that?”

 

Nodding, Gary pulled Ash up again to kiss his mouth hungrily. Ash gently reached down and grasped Gary's half erect cock, stroking it gently. Reluctantly, he broke the kiss and slid fluidly down Gary's body to slowly take the hardening organ into his mouth. Sucking gently, he remembered how Gary had said Maya had used this act to wake Gary up and get him in the mood for sex. His eyes flicked upward, silently asking if he should stop. But Gary only shook his head, one hand feathering gently through his hair to urge him to continue. Still sucking gently, Ash slid down until he held Gary's entire length in his mouth. While focusing on his breathing, he began to alternately suck the shaft and lick the tip.

 

After a few minutes though, he pulled away rubbing his aching jaw. “That's harder to do than I'd thought it would be.” He laughed slightly, embarrassed that he hadn't been able to make Gary cum using his mouth.

 

“That was...” Gary shook his head, eyes wide, unable to articulate how hot he'd found the sight of Ash sucking his cock.

 

“Did you like it?” Ash asked shyly, blushing slightly.

 

Nodding, Gary leaned in and kissed Ash, one hand sliding down to wrap around his own length. He stroked himself firmly from root to tip several times. “Take off your shirt then lie back down. I want to try cumming on you.” He whispered against Ash's lips as he broke the kiss.

 

Wide-eyed, Ash said nothing but pulled off the shirt he was wearing and lay down on his stomach between Gary's legs. When Gary came, his cum spattered across Ash's face and left shoulder, and Ash came at the sensation of being hit with the older boys semen. Realizing what had happened, he blushed hard, hoping that Gary wouldn't notice. But he did.

 

“You liked that, didn't you, Ashy-boy?” He asked playfully, absently wiping some semen off of Ash's cheek with his finger. To his surprise, Ash grabbed his wrist and licked the fluid off of his finger, nodding as he did so, then grimaced at the intense taste.

 

Reaching across the bed to the table, Gary grabbed the box of tissues and wiped the rest of the semen off of his rather embarrassed lover, including between his legs. Then he pulled Ash's pants off, leaving him nude. “Why are you blushing?” He asked softly, when he was done.

 

Shrugging, Ash turned his head away so that Gary would not be able to see his eyes.

 

“Are you worried about not liking the taste of my cum? Or is it the fact that you came in your pants that you're embarrassed about?” Gary smiled fondly as he asked, he was not bothered by either, and was actually rather flattered that Ash had liked being cummed on that much.

 

“Both.” The whispered word was followed by a short burst of humorless laughter. He then pushed himself up so that he was sitting on the bed rather than lying on it. “Though I did like the taste... it was just stronger than I'd thought it would be.”

 

Gary shifted so that he could hug Ash from behind. Nodding, he nuzzled Ash's ear before nipping at the lobe. Moaning softly, Ash tilted his head to give Gary more room...

 

Just as someone knocked on the door.

 

Jumping apart, both teens blushed. Then they scrambled for their clothes, all traces of their arousal vanishing at the thought that whoever was at the door could open it at any moment, as Ash had never re-barricaded the door after returning from his trip to the bathroom.

 

A minute later they were both decently dressed and Ash went to answer the door.

 

“I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything, but a reporter is here looking to interview Gary for some magazine.” Cilan quickly stated, blushing slightly.

 

“Which one?” Gary asked, tying up his shoes, hoping his voice didn't betray how nervous the thought of being interviewed made him.

 

“Some science journal... I didn't actually catch the name though.” Cilan added, blanking on the name as he realized that he had indeed been interrupting something sexy, based on the way Ash was glaring at him, clearly annoyed. Then he turned and fled down the hall before he could embarrass himself by blushing.

 

“Do you want me to go with you to the interview?” Ash asked, sensing how nervous Gary was at the thought of being interviewed.

 

“No. It would be more... professional of me to go alone. Besides, if you hold my hand during the interview or anything...” He shook his head, blushing softly. “It's too soon for rumors to get out that I'm involved with another guy.”

 

“Oh... yeah I never thought about it like that.” Ash laughed, embarrassed. “I guess something like that would ruin your reputation...” He broke off, feeling guilty, though he didn't know why.

 

“Hey, this isn't your fault, Ash! I...” Gary broke off, biting his lip, then he glanced up and met Ash's eyes. “I want this to be real and lasting with you, though I know that with you traveling around the gym circuit and my research, that won't happen. But, even so... I'm serious about yo- Mph.” He moaned as Ash cut him off with a kiss.

 

“We can make this work! After I'm done challenging the Unova League we could... I mean I could travel around with you or... or I don't know. But there's got to be a way...” Suddenly he remembered the fact that they had been holding hands the previous day. “And it might be a little late to worry about rumors after holding hands yesterday, during Team Rocket's attack.” He pointed out.

 

Gary started, having also forgotten about that. “Oh, yeah that's right...” He blushed, then his resolve hardened. “Then we take the direct approach. If I get asked about that, I'll admit to you being my... can I call you my boyfriend?” He asked shyly, realizing that Ash had never actually given him an answer when he'd asked two days ago.

 

After a long moment of silence, Ash slowly nodded. “Yes, you can call me your boyfriend.” Then he bit his lip. “Since the conference is on hold until the hall gets fixed, do you want to go hiking, and spend the night camping with me? Just the two of us, I mean...” He trailed off, blushing.

 

Laughing softly, Gary kissed him, then nodded. “I would love to.” Then he reluctantly pulled away and left to find the reporter, as Ash began gathering what they would need to camp out that night.

 

 

“Hey, are you all ready to go?” Gary asked, looking a bit flustered.

 

“Just about. How was the interview?” Ash glanced up from where he was shoving something into his bag, and blushed softly. Then he noticed Gary's expression. “Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah... well, the interviewer got a bit to personal for my tastes. She was asking about the rumors that I was holding hands with another boy yesterday, so like we'd planned I was honest about our relationship. That's not what's upsetting me though...” Gary broke off, taking a shuddering breath.

 

“Was she against it or something?” Ash asked, alarmed.

 

“No, quite the opposite. She asked me several positive questions about it, and whether I had any advice to give others in my situation. Then she asked about Maya...”

 

“Oh shit! She didn't!” Ash was at Gary's side in a heartbeat, wrapping his arms firmly around his boyfriends waist.

 

Leaning back into Ash's comforting warmth, Gary sighed. “I thought we had kept our relationship secret, Maya and myself, I mean. But there were rumors, some even going as far as to say that she was molesting me, since I never showed interest in her, unless we were alone.” Gary's eyes stung, but somehow he managed to keep from actually crying. “I...I wasn't completely honest with you before. I know that I implied that Maya touched me sexually for the first time the night I lost my virginity, but that's not true. That was the first time I'd felt her mouth on me, but she had groped me several times before that. She...” He broke off again, biting his lip.

 

“She what? Did you like having her touch you?” Something in Gary's tone and demeanor worried Ash.

 

“No, I didn't, and the more I asked her to stop, the more persistent she got. It was all just a game to her, and I think she liked the fact that I didn't find it fun. I would even go so far as to call her a sadist, since she told me on several occasions that she wanted to force me to submit to her domination. She even took me aside and spanked me once, laughing when I ended up crying in pain, because I had missed a deadline and had made her look bad, as my research assistant. I wanted to tell someone what was going on, but she threatened to say that I was the one molesting her instead of the other way around, and people don't want to believe that women are capable of sexual assault.” He took a shuddering breath, and confessed the rest, unable to keep the truth inside him any longer. “I never consented to having sex with her, she raped me by tying my wrists to the bed frame while I was still asleep, and gagging me so I couldn't cry out for help before using her mouth on me. I could watch her, as she had not blindfolded me, but that is all I could do.” Turning around, he buried his face in Ash's shoulder, finally allowing himself to cry.

 

Ash held his best friend and lover tight, but his head was reeling. Gary had been raped? Shit, no wonder he had acted so weird about his desire to have sex with him. Rubbing Gary's back soothingly, he wondered if it was really a good idea for them to be alone together. He also wondered if the little surprise he had planned for tonight was a good idea, a surprise he had put together in order to fulfill one of his recurring sexual fantasies.

 

“What did you tell the reporter?” He found himself asking once Gary's tears had subsided enough for him to be able to speak again.

 

“That I had no comment other than the fact that my past relationship with Maya has nothing to do with you and I don't want people judging me by it. Though I did also lie and deny the rumors that she'd been molesting me.” Gary's words were muffled because it face was pressed into the now damp fabric of Ash's jacket.

 

“Do you still want to go camping? Maybe it's not such a good idea for us to be completely alone right now.” Ash sighed. “Are you okay?” He asked again, wishing there was some way for him to help Gary forget his past.

 

“I'm okay, and yes I still want to go camping.” Gary froze briefly as he saw the doubts in his lover's eyes.

 

“Ash, listen to me; you're nothing like Maya! She would have been laughing, teasing me for being a crybaby just now. But I know that you never even thought of being mean, you're to sensitive for thoughtless action and cruel words, and I've always loved you for that, even as a child. When I'm around you, everything about you tells me that this is the way love is supposed to be, even though I don't feel romantic love for you yet, only lust and friendship. You'd deny yourself something if it would help me, or anyone else, you proved that the other night when you stopped asking me for sex because I admitted to being messed up inside because of Maya. You care about me, as a person and not as a sex toy.

 

“There was one day when I was sick with the flu, and she avoided me all day, blaming me for

her increased work load, like I'd gotten sick just to fuck with her. But you would have ignored everything to nurse me back to health just because that is who you are...”

 

“I have...” Ash whispered softly, interrupting Gary's tirade.

 

“Yeah, that's right, you have.” Silence fell as they both remembered the day in question. They'd been children at the time, only nine years old. Gary had missed school because he'd caught a bad head cold. When he'd realized his friend was absent, Ash had snuck out, skipping school to check on him, and had ended up catching Gary's cold after spoon feeding him some chicken soup Daisy had made for her kid brother.

 

“I never did properly thank you for helping me get well.” Gary felt guilty, since he had not checked in on Ash the next day when it had been Ash who was ill. He'd still been sick himself, and had worried that being around Ash would have just made them both feel even worse, health wise.

 

“You did send me some of your sister's soup.” Ash pointed out. “And hand made that card explaining that you weren't visiting to keep yourself from either re-catching the cold from me, or making me sicker than I already was. I still have it, you know. The card, I mean. It's in a box of treasures from my childhood that I keep at the back of my closet at home.”

 

“I never asked, but did you get in trouble for skipping school that day?”

 

“Yes. Once I was over my cold, I had to stay inside during lunch recess doing extra school work for a whole week. Remember?”

 

“Oh, so that's what that had been about.” They laughed briefly, Ash falling silent first.

 

“What is it?” Gary whispered, worried by Ash's suddenly serious expression.

 

“I... it's nothing...” Turning back towards the bag he had been packing for the camping trip, he tried to discreetly remove the bag of clothing Iris had helped him buy, but Gary grabbed his hand.

 

“What's in the bag?”

 

“It... it was supposed to be a surprise for tonight, but I don't think its such a good idea anymore.” Sighing, Ash let the female clothes tumble out of the bag.

 

“Huh? Why do you... Ash, is there something I should know about you?” Gary asked, in clear confusion.

 

“For almost a year now, I've had a recurring fantasy about having sex while dressed up as a girl...”

 

“Oh...” Surprised by Gary's tone, Ash turned so he could see that Gary was blushing.

 

“I... I want to be held down, and dominated by my partner, by you. Maybe even tied up... but all that falls to closely...” He broke off as he realized that Gary was laughing in an embarrassed way.

 

“What the hell, Ash? What are you so worried about? You want me to hold you down, and fuck you while you cross-dress. Maybe I'd have a problem with that if it was the other way around, but it's not. I like that you want to be the sub, since it's about as opposite Maya's tastes as you can get.” Gary leaned down and fingered the lacy black mini-dress that Iris had insisted would look very sexy on Ash.

 

“And I would love to see you wear this. But I am wondering one thing; how did you buy these without raising any suspicion?”

 

“I actually didn't, Iris bought them; I'm about the same size as her, so she went out on her own this morning and bought all this for me, after taking my measurements. The dress is a bit tight on me, especially in the chest area, and a shade loose in the hips, but it does fit.”

 

“When did you ask her to do that...?” Gary wondered aloud.

 

“I actually didn't; she bought the stuff as a gag, joking that every gay-boy needs a good dress, and was pretty surprised when I revealed that I have an actual interest in cross-dressing.”

 

“Oh...” Gary blushed again, as his mind ran over what Ash had told him about his fantasy. “I'm okay with being the dominant, but I don't want to tie you up, use handcuffs, blindfolds, anything along those lines.”

 

“You don't have to do anything you don't want to do...” 'Maybe James will... wait what am I thinking? I just said that I want a serious relationship with Gary, so why am I thinking about having sex with someone else?' Ash shook his head hard to snap himself back to the present.

 

“What...?”

 

“Would you be interested in having a threesome at some point?” Ash blurted, trying to distract Gary from asking about what Ash had just been thinking.

 

“I... I don't know. Actually, I've never thought about something like that...” Gary turned towards his side of the room to pack his own overnight bag. Deciding to leave all his research paraphernalia behind, he packed his bag with just clothing, his toiletries, and sleeping bag.

 

“Oh, that reminds me, I'm leaving Pikachu here with Iris and Cilan. Since he doesn't like being inside a Poke Ball, and I don't want him watching what we do when alone together, I thought it best...” Ash broke off, blushing.

 

“I see, yeah that might be best.” Gary was surprised, he knew how close Ash and Pikachu were, so he knew how hard it was for Ash to not want Pikachu to come with them. “Oh, I almost forgot, I heard of a good spot to camp. It's secluded, and next to a natural water spring.” Fighting a blush as the mention of water sparked a desire to bathe with Ash, Gary continued. “But it's a fair hike from here, so we should get going if we want to get there before it gets too dark.”

 

“Okay, I just need to check on Pikachu and then we can go.” Ash ran off to find his friends before Gary could reply, too eager to reach the campsite to waste another moment.


	5. 5

“I think I see the clearing.” Ash laughed and raced ahead. Rolling his eyes, Gary followed after his boyfriend.

 

They had been walking for the better part of two hours, and taking a bath together was sounding better and better with each step taken.

 

“Oh wow! This place is amazing!” Ash laughed, dumping his bag by a tree. Then he began stripping, eager to feel the water caress his sweaty body, as the sun was hot and the hike had been challenging.

 

“Ash, wait! Shouldn't we make sure we're alone first?” Gary glanced around nervously, having never liked bathing outdoors.

 

“What, are you shy or something?” Ash teased, but he complied, and glanced around as well. Though he couldn't see anyone, he got the feeling that they were being watched.

 

Just then, a group of bird Pokemon took flight, and Ash shrugged. “We're alone, it's only the local Pokemon. But if you want to wait until its dark, we can. There's no rush.” Ash's stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly, and Gary laughed.

 

“I'll make us something to eat.” Setting aside his own bag, he pulled out the fixings for sandwiches, and soon had a stack made. As they ate, his eyes kept darting around, and he couldn't quite shake the feeling that they were being spied on.

 

“What is it?” Ash frowned around a mouthful of bread and meat.

 

“I... Do you feel like were being watched?” Gary stopped looking around long enough to fix his gaze on Ash, but his lover only shrugged.

 

“I dunno, kinda yeah, but it might just be my imagination.”

 

“Oh.” Gary tried to shrug off the feeling, but couldn't. In his heart he knew that they were not alone.

 

 

Little did either of them know, but they had been tailed all the way from the Pokemon Center, by James. If he couldn't have Ash for himself, at least he was going to watch Ash make love to Gary. Assuming they ever did so, as Gary had picked up on his presence too soon for James' comfort.

 

'Come on, start getting it on and give me a good glimpse of Ash's cute little cock.' James silently prayed as he watched them eat rather than make out, though Ash had started to undress earlier. When Gary had stopped him, James had wanted to strangle the redheaded youth.

 

Pushing down his arousal, he settled himself down to just watch them, doing nothing that would give away the fact that he was watching them. Just watching and waiting for the real show to begin.

 

 

“Gary, come look at this!” Ash grabbed his lover's hand and pulled him to the top of a nearby hill, pointing at the sky. “When was the last time you saw a sunset like this?”

 

The sky was swirled with red and orange, tinting almost to pink and yellow in places as the light was refracted through the atmosphere and painted the thin, swirling clouds with fire.

 

“I... I don't remember the last time I even took the time to watch the sunset.” Gary confessed softly, hugging Ash from behind though his face was raised towards the sky in awe. How long they stood like that, just gazing at the sky, at peace with each other and the world as a whole, neither could say. Neither made any attempt to move until the sun had finished lowering herself below the horizon and the colors faded from the sky.

 

“You don't have time to watch the sunset when you're a researcher, Ash.” Gary added as the last rays of sunlight faded from the sky and twilight set in. Dropping his head, he nuzzled Ash's neck, pressing a light kiss over the pulse point. “When you have to be constantly observing what's on the ground around you, you don't stop to think about what shape the clouds are, or anything like that, when it's above you.”

 

“Gary...” Ash angled his head to give his lover more room, but otherwise made no attempt to move. “I wish we could stay here, like this, forever.”

 

“That would be nice.” Pulling away from Ash he shook his head. “But we can't. Not if we want to take a bath together tonight, or make love.”

 

Sighing, Ash turned around and pulled Gary back towards him to kiss his lips softly. Then he pulled away walking slowly back to the camp, feeling no need to rush for once as he wished that the night would never end.

 

 

“How is this, tight enough for you, you little skank?” James asked rhetorically as Ash couldn't speak around the gag in his mouth. Checking one last time that the rope was tight enough that Ash could not wiggle his hands free, he turned his attention south.

 

Earlier he had slipped a vibrating dildo inside the boy's anal canal; now he cranked the speed up to high. Ash writhed as he both welcomed and fought against the sudden assault on his senses, unable to remove the dildo even if he wanted to.

 

Laughing softly, James slapped his young lover's ass, his smile widening as Ash's cries of pleasure mingled with pain. Slap after slap he aimed at the tender flesh, turning both cheeks bright red; only then did he turn off the dildo.

 

Loosening his own pants, he removed the toy, then thrust into Ash's still tight opening. Moaning softly, he began fucking Ash harder and harder until he came, his seed spurting deep within Ash's ass...

 

And inside his pants as he woke with a start. Glancing around, he saw that it was now twilight and the boys were heading back down towards the water. With a sigh, James followed stealthily, unwilling to let Ash out of his sight, even for a moment.

 

His heart was racing though, as he recalled the brutality of his dream. Did he really want to dominate Ash like that? Though it was a fact that he was jealous that Ash was with Gary and not with him, James wasn't sure that that alone accounted for his actions in the dream. But what else would have made him dream that all of a sudden? None of his previous sex dreams had ever involved using any physical force, though he did have a healthy interest in tie-me-up/tie-me-down sex.

 

But tying someone up against their will? Using toys and ball gags? He had no desire for any of that...

 

Or did he?

 

Confused, James slipped from tree to tree as he followed behind Ash, pushing down a longing to reveal his presence and just have his way with Ash then and there.

 

And did he really think that Ash was a skank? He had no respect for sluts and whores who just put out to anyone and everyone; such people made him sick. So why was he so turned on by the idea of Ash being a slut and just putting out for him? Because he wanted to watch Gary fucking his sweet ass?

 

He watched with barely suppressed jealous rage as Ash leaned closer to Gary to say something that made the redhead laugh, though he could not hear what was being said. Maybe he was so jealous because he envied the easy friendship the two shared.

 

Being raised a wealthy heir the way he had, James had never had a true friend before joining Team Rocket, and even then there was no one he trusted to that extent. At least not in that way; he fully trusted Jessie to stab him in the back, and Meowth to desert him at the first chance he got when a better option than traveling with him came up.

 

Therefore he was not open and relax around them; they knew he liked Ash but nothing more. Not the true extent of his growing love for Ash, and not the fact that he only liked boys.

 

Oh, how he wished he could be free to love someone as easily as Ash loved Gary, romantically or otherwise. But as long as he was a member of Team Rocket, it was not to be.

 

Sighing again, he settled back into his original hiding spot beside the lack to watch what would happen next, too intent on seeing Ash naked and fucked to even bother cleaning himself up from his wet dream.

 

 

“Come on, I'll race ya into the water!” Ash laughed as he removed the last of his clothing, then turned and ran into the lake without waiting for an answer.

 

“Ash... Wait up!” Growling under his breath, Gary pulled off his other sock then followed Ash into the water, shivering slightly as the cold water hit is nude flesh. Slowing once he started catching up, he gathered his legs under him, bent his knees...

 

And pounced, tackling Ash and knocking them both over. “What's the rush, Ashy-boy?” He asked, looking down at the boy lying wet and stunned under him.

 

“I... Uh... I dunno?” Ash's brain had shut down and he was unable to articulate what had made him run into the water in the first place.

 

Smirking, Gary leaned down and captured Ash's mouth, kissing him deeply. But to his surprise, Ash squirmed out from under him, shaking his head.

 

“Ash? Is something wrong?”

 

“No, nothing's wrong. I just want to play in the water for a while first; like we used to when we were kids. I don't want to get straight into having sex, not just yet anyway. We haven't just had fun together since...” Ash broke off, thinking hard. “Since I don't actually know when. Maybe not since Johto, maybe even earlier than that. That's all I want to do right now; have fun. All of our Pokemon are back at the Pokemon Center, there's no one else around; what is stopping us from naked wrestling in the water the way we used to when we were five?”

 

“We are no longer five, Ash. And you're wrong, about all our Pokemon being back at the Pokemon Center. I kept my Blastoise with me, in case of emergencies. But don't worry, unless I need to I won't release her from her Pokeball.”

 

Ash nodded then he leaned down and splashed water in Gary's direction.

 

“Hey... Well, them take this!” Splashing back Gary ran through the wave towards Ash, but the younger boy dodged him. They began running through the shallows, laughing and splashing at each other, alternately leaping towards and dodging one another, until they ran out of breath.

 

Then, and only then, did Ash allow himself to be tackled once more, and Gary was still laughing breathlessly as he leaned in to kiss Ash once more.

 

This time it was different, as Ash made no effort to resist and kissed Gary back passionately. When they broke apart, Gary rolled off of Ash to lie beside him in the shallow water.

 

“Ash, thank you. I don't remember when I last had so much fun; I had almost forgotten what fun was, how it felt to just laugh and not have a care in the world. Maya, as well as my training to be a Pokemon Researcher, and my training to be a Pokemon Master before that, it all made me grow up too fast. How I never saw that before now...” He broke off as Ash rolled on top of him to resume kissing him.

 

“You were too close, you couldn't see that, not until I forced you to take a step backwards.” Ash whispered against Gary's lips. Then his weight was gone, and Gary felt a gentle ripple of waves move against his body as Ash left the water.

 

“Ash...?”

 

“I think it's time for me to try on that dress.” Ash first pulled a towel from his bag and used it to towel himself off before pulling the lacy mini-dress out of his backpack.

 

Unzipping the back, he stepped into it, pulling it up over his shoulders, not realizing that Gary had stepped up behind him until he felt hands other than his own zip it back up.

 

“Your hands are shaking.”

 

“Ash... do you have any idea what effect you are having on me right now?” Gary kissed Ash's cheek then allowed Ash to turn around in his arms.

 

“No I don't. Maybe you should tell me? Or... Show me?” Ash feigned innocence, knowing full well that Gary was hard.

 

Swallowing hard, Gary's eyes roved all over Ash's body, unable to speak at all for a long moment as he drank in the sight of Ash in a dress. Never before had he felt so aroused; the fear of intimacy that had lingered in the back of his mind ever since he had realized that Maya was only using him was gone. Without it his heart felt light, but not empty as love for Ash was flowing in to fill the void left by it's absence.

 

Without actually saying anything, he lifted Ash into his arms and laid him down on top of the sleeping bags they had spread out earlier, then he slid lower and took Ash into his mouth after pushing the skirt up far enough.

 

Moaning softly, Ash threaded his fingers through Gary's damp hair, but made no effort to make Gary go faster as his lover gently sucked slowly on him. The attention was nice as foreplay, though Ash knew that it was not enough to make him cum.

 

“Enough.” The word was whispered, but Gary's eyes still flicked upwards to meet his. “I should be pleasuring you as well.” He added to answer the unspoken question in those beautiful green eyes.

 

Nodding, Gary pulled off of Ash, and ran to his bag to grab the lube. Fingering Ash gently, he slicked his lover up as best he could, then slid his cock inside.

 

This time things were different as both boys wanted to keep it slow, to make love rather than fuck. Gary's thrusts were slow but sure, aiming for, and hitting, Ash's prostate on every second thrust. Ash moaned and wrapped himself tightly around Gary, wishing that he never had to let go.

 

Everything they were feeling, all the love and acceptance, friendship, laughter, years of good memories, and years of bad memories; all was poured into their love-making. This time was about connecting with one another, proving their love, with Ash trying to heal Gary's heart and Gary trying to say that he was already healed.

 

Time slowed almost to a stop for them as it went by unnoticed, only the growing mutual warmth low in their stomachs to tell them that time was passing at all. It was only then that Gary increased the pace just enough for them to both cum.

 

When they did cum, they came almost at the same time, with Gary shooting his seed deep within Ash only a split second before Ash splattered his stomach with cum, barely missing the hemline of the dress he was still wearing.

 

“How was that, Ash? Still scared that I will turn around and say that I am not ready for love so soon after the disaster with Maya?” Gary asked lightly.

 

“Are you?” Ash tensed, showing that he was indeed still scared, and Gary fell silent, wiping the cum off of Ash's thighs as he thought about how to answer Ash's question.

 

“No I'm not; Ash I am falling in love with you. You are everything I've ever wanted in a lover, and if you're not the gender I was expecting to fall for, well... nothing we can do about that now.” Smiling gently he leaned down to press another soft kiss against Ash's lips.

 

“I'm falling for you as well, that's why I am so scared that you will come to regret this.” Ash confessed shyly as the kiss ended.

 

“Oh Ash...” Gary broke off, and just pulled Ash into his arms, after helping Ash remove the dress once more. They lay like that for a long while, neither knowing what to say, and just enjoying how close their bodies were, until they eventually drifted off to sleep.

 

 

From his hiding point, James watched in dismay as Gary proceeded to make love to Ash rather than give him the good hard fucking he had been expecting to watch.

 

His heart tightened in his chest further as he heard their love confessions. He had noticed Ash first; it was no fair that Gary got to win Ash's heart instead of him!

 

Unaware that his jealousy was twisting his emotions around, James retreated, heading back to where Jessie and Meowth were waiting for him, thinking hard about how he could steal Ash from Gary, and make the boy his instead.


	6. 6

“Where have you... James are you okay?” Jessie's bored tone turned to concern when she saw the expression on James' face. “What happened to you?”

 

“I followed Ash and that brat he's with into the woods and... I've been watching everything they did for a few hours now.”

 

“Everything? Does that include...?”

 

“Yes, everything. I didn't hear much of what they were saying, but I did hear them confess that they were already falling in love with one another... in love!” Shaking with rage now, James continued. “I saw Ash first, he should be mine! He will be mine!”

 

“Not like that he won't. James, you know that the Twerp doesn't respond well to anger or violence. You need to calm yourself down first if you want to have any chance at all of winning his love. On the other hand, if it's just his body you're after...”

 

“No, I don't just want his body!” James took a deep breath as Jessie's words hit him hard. She was right, being jealous and sloppy would get him nowhere. “So then what should I do?”

 

“First, you...” Leaning closer she whispered into her partner's ear, as a wide grin spread across James' face.

 

 

As early morning sunlight crept into the clearing, Ash stirred slowly, shifting closer to the warmth that was draped over him from behind.

 

“Good morning.” The words were whispered softly into his ear, and he realized the warmth was Gary.

 

“Morning.” Ash yawned but for once felt no desire to go back to sleep; not with Gary's hardness pressing against his ass the way it was.

 

“You're up early; guess I didn't do a good enough job tiring you out last night.” Ash barely had time to register Gary's mocking tone before he was pressed against the ground on his stomach, and Gary's erection was between his ass cheeks. “What should I do with you now though?”

 

“Whatever you want.” Ash panted out as Gary began thrusting his hips.

 

“Good. Lift your hips up.” Ash complied as Gary reached under the pillow for the lube, then squeezed a liberal amount directly over Ash's opening, using his fingers to push it inside.

 

Moaning loudly now, Ash pushed back against the invading fingers, earning a chuckle in response. “You're impatient today...” Gary whispered into a kiss pressed against Ash's neck.

 

“So are you.” Ash laughed breathlessly, even as something harder and larger than a finger was pushed inside him. Spreading his legs as wide as he could, Ash allowed the penetration, not even minding the jolt of pain that passed through his body as he had not been prepped enough.

 

Then Gary was fully sheathed inside him and everything stopped mattering to him but their connection. As soon as Gary's first thrust struck his prostate, Ash was reduced to a writhing mess, crying out loudly for anyone to hear for miles. Fortunately for them, there were only Pokemon around to hear them.

 

Gary loved how easily he could pleasure his young lover, and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth even as he added his own pleasure-cries to Ash's. Yes, this was what sex was supposed to be, not what Maya had forced out of him; love not hate should be the fuelling emotion, and with that thought he lowered his body. Shifting his hands away from Ash's hips, his fingers threaded through Ash's as he pushed them above their hands, his chest lying flat against the line of Ash's back.

 

The change in angle made it hard for him to thrust deeply, so he changed his rhythm to short, fast strokes that pounded Ash's prostate, and Ash wasn't about to complain. Crying out wordlessly, he pushed his hips up as far as he could, meeting Gary's halfway, his own leaking erection rubbing the sleeping bag below him.

 

Later, neither could say who came first as Ash sprayed the sleeping bag with cum at virtually the same time Gary coated his insides with his seed.

 

“I love you.” Gary whispered the words into Ash's ear. “I have since we last saw each other in Sinnoh, I just never realized until now what it was I was feeling for you. Since I'd assumed that I was straight, as you know.”

 

They lay like that for a long moment, just relearning how to breathe, before Gary pulled himself out of Ash to clean them both up. Rolling over onto his back, Ash watched a couple clouds race across the sky as the sun rose higher into the sky.

 

“I wish we could stay like this forever, just the two of us, and no cares in the world.” Ash sighed as he knew that it could never be.

 

“What about your dream, Ash? Would you really be happy settling down with anyone at this point in your life? Or would you prefer a lover you could travel with?”

 

“I...” Ash broke off, thinking hard, then he sat up so he could look Gary in the eye. “I'd be happiest if you could travel around with me as my lover.” He answered honestly, looking Gary straight in the eye as he spoke.

 

The he suddenly started squirming, and scrambled for the trees, barely making it before his bladder let go; his arousal had covered the fact that he desperately needed to pee.

 

“Ash...” Gary shook his head, as he too stepped into the trees to answer the call of nature. Then they headed back into the water, to bathe properly this time, rubbing each other all over to remove every last speck of dirt. Then they lay down together in the shallows facing each other, just kissing and stroking one another until they both came once more.

 

“I wish we never have to leave here...” Ash repeated, whispering the words into Gary's shoulder as they just lay in the shallows, recovering from their orgasms.

 

“But life awaits us out there, and anyway, there is another vital reason why we both must leave here.” Gary's tone was serious, and Ash pushed himself up to look straight into his lovers eyes.

 

“Oh, and what is that?” He asked slowly.

 

“You'll miss Pikachu too much.” Gary stated simply, hugging Ash.

 

Ash opened his mouth to deny it, then he realized what Gary had said. “Yeah, you're right, I already miss Pikachu. I've never been separated from him for this long since I met him.”

 

Then they both burst out laughing, and neither stopped until they were both panting and out of breath.

 

“Come on, Ash. Lets go back to the Pokemon Center so you can be reunited with Pikachu.” Gary stood, water trailing down his body and dripping off of the tip of his half-erect cock.

 

His breath catching in his throat as Ash realized he had never seen anything so beautiful before in his life, and the fear that this wasn't going to last began melting away from him.

 

“Yes, lets go back together.”

 

 

By the time James had everything planned out and ready, and had gotten some sleep, Ash and Gary were both dressed and in the middle of packing up their camp to return to town.

 

What he needed to do was lure Gary away from Ash somehow so he could put his plan into action. But how?

 

If he waited until they were back at the Pokemon Center, his plan might not work.

 

Fortunately for him, a distraction proved unnecessary.

 

“Ash! Look!” Gary pointed up as a shiny Braviary soared by overhead, it's rare blue feathering almost lost in the azure of the sky.

 

Then Gary froze, looking almost guilty as he glanced over at Ash.

 

“Go on! If you want to try to catch that Braviary I won't stop you.” Ash laughed, pushing Gary in the direction the Braviary had flown off in.

 

Without wasting another second, Gary took the hint and ran off after the flying type Pokemon.

 

James knew that this was his chance, but waited another five minutes to make sure the real Gary Oak was not about to return, then he circled around to the point where Gary had entered the woods.

 

“It got away...” James mimicked Gary's voice as best he could, hoping his disguise would be good enough to fool Ash.

 

“Gary?” Ash frowned, sensing somehow that something was wrong, but unable to put his finger on what.

 

“Yes, Ash.” James walked closer, but did not quite dare to put his arms around Ash. Not just yet, he had to get Ash to let down his guard first.

 

Ash sighed and turned away. “Well, that happens from time to time.” He leaned over to pick up his bag, and James could not resist the urge to reach over and slap Ash's ass.

 

“What was that for?” Ash's tone was half teasing and half confused. “You've never just slapped my ass before.”

 

James knew that he had to be careful how he replied, but also that if he didn't reply quickly, Ash's suspicions would only grow. “It was there and I couldn't resist the urge.” He laughed softly, hoping he sounded natural.

 

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

 

“Yes, Ash, of course you can.”

 

“Do you remember how I broke my leg when we were kids?” Ash asked slowly, studying the other man's face intently as he spoke, looking for any sign that James really was Gary, and frowning further when he failed to find what he was looking for.

 

James froze, his mind whirring. But no matter how hard he thought he simply could not remember ever hearing that Ash had broken his leg.

 

“I...”

 

“Of course I remember, Ashy-boy.” James broke out in cold sweat as Gary stepped back into the clearing.

 

“You!” Ash lunged forward and pushed James to the ground, ripping the wig off. “What are you doing here, James?”

 

“I...” James swallowed hard, then decided to act as low as Ash's opinion of him was. He turned to Gary instead of answering Ash's questions. If he couldn't claim Ash for his own, then at least he could make sure that Gary couldn't either. “Did Ash tell you that while you were sleeping the night before last, he snuck out to be with me?”

 

“James!” Ash screamed the name, horrified that even a member of Team Rocket would stoop so low.

 

Doubt flickered through Gary's eyes as he remembered how Ash had gone for a walk the night before. “Ash...?”

 

“He let me pin him to a tree and take him from behind!” James spat, unaware that Gary had taken Ash's virginity himself.

 

“Now I know that you're lying! Ash came to my bed a virgin, and we never... not until after he had returned from his walk that night!” But not all the doubt had left those beautiful green eyes.

 

“Gary, calm down I can explain...” Ash's throat closed as he realized his words were a confession, but he also knew that Gary needed to hear the truth from him and not from James if they were to have any hope of working through this.

 

Turning towards the boy he loved, Gary felt his heart tighten painfully. Only the raw pain he saw reflected in Ash's wide eyes kept his temper in check.

 

“Leave.” He spat the word at James. “Just leave, and don't come near Ash or myself ever again!”

 

Picking himself up off of the ground, James turned and ran into the woods, vanishing from sight amongst the trees.

 

“Gary, thank-”

 

“You to, Ash.”

 

Ash froze, his face pale.

 

“I will give you a chance to explain, but not just yet. I need to be alone first.” Then he grabbed his bag before tossing the Pokeball he was clutching unnoticed in his hand, releasing the shiny Braviary. Hopping up onto the blue back of his newest Pokemon, Gary clung tight as the Braviary rose up into the sky, soaring away and taking Gary with him.

 

Crying softly, Ash crumpled to the ground, more alone than he had been in a long time. For the first time, he regretted his decision to leave Pikachu behind, and it was only the thought of holding Pikachu tight and crying into his friends soft fur that got him back onto his feet to begin the long and lonely trek back to the Pokemon Center.


	7. 7

“Ash! What happened?” Iris ran over to him as he trudged back into the Pokemon Center, not looking up even as Pikachu climbed onto his shoulder.

 

“I might have lost Gary...” He finally lifted his head as fresh tears coursed down his cheeks.

 

“What do you mean? Did you have a big fight with him or something?” Cilan placed a hand on Ash's shoulder.

 

Ash felt something snap within him at the contact, and suddenly threw himself into Cilan's arms, sobbing hard. Surprised, Cilan froze for a long moment before tentatively hugging Ash back.

 

When he felt Iris hug him from behind, he finally began to calm down. “I fucked up badly. The night before last I...” Ash shook his head, unable to continue.

 

“Where is Gary right now? Can't you just go talk to him about whatever it is that you think you've done?” Cilan asked, reasonably.

 

“No I can't, because I don't know where he is. He could be anywhere and...” Ash took a shuddering breath and pulled himself out of Cilan's arms. Though his cheeks were still damp he had stopped crying. “Can we go somewhere else? This isn't something I wish to talk about in public.”

 

“Okay, then lets go upstairs.” Iris grabbed Ash's hand and he gratefully squeezed hers back as they headed up the stairs towards the room Iris and Cilan were sharing.

 

Once they were inside though, Ash collapsed onto the floor, his back to the door as a fresh wave of tears hit him. Even thinking about telling his friends made what had happened, what he had done, all too real to him.

 

“Ash?” Then his friends were there, sitting on either side of him, and he felt hands gently touch his back, his shoulders, and even tangle in his hair. He didn't know whose hand was whose, and he didn't care. All he knew was that at that moment he felt both safe and loved.

 

“I cheated on Gary, and he found out...” The words escaped Ash before he was fully conscious of what he had just confessed to.

 

“What? You did what?” Cilan's voice contained so much disbelief that at any other time Ash would have laughed. But not this time, not with the weight of his guilt still weighing down his heart.

 

“You heard me right; I cheated on Gary. Not by... I'd never do that.” Ash took a deep breath, calming himself.

 

“It was the night before last, after we had spent all day cleaning up after Team Rocket.” Ash continued a moment later, not giving himself a chance to chicken out. “During the attack, James had caught sight of the fact that I was holding Gary's hand, and the way he had reacted to that... Arceus I'd thought that he hated me for it. Hated me for being gay, and having a boyfriend. So that night when I couldn't sleep because I kept replaying that scene inside my head, I'd gone out to confront James about it.

 

“Turns out I couldn't have been more wrong. James didn't hate me, no the emotion I'd seen in his eyes had not been hate, or disgust, but rather...” Ash broke off.

 

“Rather what?” Iris piped up from Ash's other side, where she was now resting her cheek on his shoulder.

 

“Jealousy, or maybe it was envy? I can't recall what the difference is right now. But anyway, it was one of the two. He wants me all for himself, James I mean, and... and we'd ended up kissing. I never told anyone this, but James is my first crush, the man who made me realize that I am gay, and when he kissed me to get me to shut up so he could explain himself... It felt so good I forgot all about Gary for a few minutes.

 

“Though he obviously wanted to do more than just share a few kisses with me, I said no. And he did respect that, or at least I thought he had. And that is it, I cheated on Gary by kissing someone else. End of story. But Gary doesn't know that, not yet, and...” Ash trailed off as a fresh wave of sobs shook his small frame.

 

“How did he find out?” Cilan asked, brushing Ash's hair out of his eyes.

 

“James followed us up to the spring yesterday when we went camping. Gary had said several times last night that he felt like someone was watching us, a human I mean, not the local Pokemon. But I didn't feel anything, so at the time I'd thought that it was only Gary's imagination. But now I know better, now I know that James had been watching us... and everything we did, thinking that we were alone.” Ash's tear-paled cheeks turned bright red for a few seconds saying more about what he'd done with Gary than words would have.

 

“And then...?” Cilan shifted uncomfortably, not wanting Ash to go into detail about what two guys do together in bed.

 

“And then nothing, until we were ready to leave camp and head back. That's when we saw it; a shiny Braviary flying by overhead. Gary raced off to try and capture the Braviary; while I had left all my Pokemon here for the night, Gary had kept his Blastoise with him in case of emergencies so he was able to fight and capture the Braviary.

 

“That was when James made his move. He came into the camp disguised as Gary, but he didn't quite fool me. I mean, I couldn't tell who he was at first, only that he was not Gary. But it wasn't until I asked him something that Gary would know, but isn't common knowledge that I knew for sure that he wasn't Gary Oak. And James could not answer, but Gary did, reentering the clearing unseen by James or myself until he had spoken.

 

“So I tackled James, exposing his true identity. And he told Gary that I had gone all the way with him that night. That I had not entered Gary's bed as the virgin Gary thought I was.”

 

“And Gary believed him?” Cilan asked, incredulously.

 

Ash slowly shook his head. “About me putting out for James? No... but he knew that there was more to the story than he knew. When I asked Gary to hear me out he said 'yes, but not yet.' Then he took off on the back of the Braviary, and I haven't seen him since...”

 

The silence that fell was heavy as neither Cilan nor Iris knew what to say as they both slid closer to Ash, wanting to comfort him but uncertain as to how.

 

 

High above the air, Gary circled around on his Braviary, frantically searching the ground below.

 

Though it had been less than half an hour since he had taken off, leaving Ash behind, he was feeling regretful of what he had said and done.

 

Then he had remembered; he had his Braviary with him (Blastoise had been sent back to the lab as his newest capture had counted as his seventh Pokemon), but Ash had none of his with him at all. So now he was searching for Ash, praying that his friend was safe, that nothing bad had happened to him...

 

His heart tightened painfully as the seconds ticked by with still no sight of the boy and then.... there!

 

“Braviary! Fly lower and to the left.” Yes, he was right, that was Ash! The boy was trudging dejectedly back to where his friends were waiting for him.

 

Part of Gary wanted to go to Ash then and there. But the bigger part of him was still too lost and hurt to contemplate such action for long. Torn, he found himself following Ash from the air; had Ash looked up he would have seen the rare blue bird Pokemon and have known that Gary was still watching over him.

 

Only he never did; not once during the long trek back did Ash lift his eyes from the ground ahead of him, and Gary had the terrible feeling that Ash was crying the entire time.

 

What had happened between Ash and James? Had anything even happened at all? Gary didn't know and he knew that not knowing was going to tear him apart.

 

Ash was right though; he was still scared of opening up, of being hurt again. Though, in many ways, this was worse than what had happened with Maya.

 

Because he had never loved her. Because he did love Ash.

 

Only when Ash was finally within sprinting distance of the main entrance of the Pokemon Center did Gary veer off, letting his Braviary circle higher and higher into the sky, reaching for the sun.

 

They did not land again until hunger forced them too.

 

 

Finally Ash calmed down enough to be somewhat himself again. “Iris, Cilan, thank you. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have you. And you too Pikachu, and you Axew. All of you, I love you all so much I...”

 

“Oh Ash no need to thank us!” Cilan quickly exclaimed, blushing though he was flattered by Ash's words.

 

“I- Wait, why is only one bed messed up?” Ash asked, glancing around the room. Both of his friends bags were together on one of the beds, and that bed was still made as though it had never been slept in.

 

“Ash!” Iris yelled the name as her cheeks flared red.

 

That was all the answer Ash needed as his mind jumped to the correct conclusion. “You two make a cute couple.” Laughing, he stood up. “Now lets go get something to eat, I'm starving.”

 

Relieved that Ash wasn't going to ask anything else, Iris and Cilan followed him down to the cafeteria. “So how long have you two been together like that?”

 

“Um... about a month now?” Iris replied thoughtfully. “But we never... I mean not until last night. We'd kissed and stuff before then but we were too scared that you'd walk in on us to do more than that.”

 

“Yeah, I guess I can really kill the mood sometimes, can't I?” Ash laughed softly, embarrassed. “Just say you want to be alone with Cilan and I'll get the message.”

 

“Thank you Ash, for being so understanding.”

 

“I knew that something was happening between you two, just not exactly what, so this doesn't surprise me. And I'm happy for you.” Ash smiled gently, but Iris noticed that the smile wasn't as bright as it usually was.

 

“Ash I'm sure...”

 

“I'm sorry.” All three of them turned as Iris stopped talking to see who had interrupted her.

 

“Ash, I'm sorry I took off like that. If you still want to talk, we can.” Gary repeated, though he made no move to close the gap between them.

 

“Of course I still want to talk.” Ash paid for his food, putting it all in a carryout bag. “Lets go upstairs, I can eat while we talk.”

 

“Hang on.” Ash frowned until he realized that Gary just wanted to buy something for himself. “Okay, lets go.”

 

“So... Ash what exactly is it that you did with James that night?”

 

Sighing, Ash took a bite of his sandwich as he thought about where to start. “First off, I didn't go out intending to cheat or anything. I'm not that type of person. No, I'd gone out because I'd thought that James had had a problem with us holding hands, that he was homophobic or something.

 

“So when I ran into him, I just started ranting at him and... and I didn't let him get a word in edgewise. He had to kiss me just to prove that I was wrong, and so that he could say his bit.”

 

“You kissed him?” Gary sounded hurt, but not mad, and Ash took that as a good sign.

 

“Yes, I kissed him. That's all we did... we'll not quite as I'd also let him hug me. We talked about having sex after the conference, but only because I'd told him that I was going to say no to being your boyfriend. At that time I was underestimating our feelings for one another. I've changed my mind about doing anything like that with him! I only want to be with you. I love you, Gary Oak and... and I'll do anything to make up for this! I'll wait forever for another chance with you if that's what it take-” For the second time in less than a week, Ash's tirade was cut off by a warm pair of lips claiming his own.

 

“Ash... Oh Arceus when you said that you'd explain everything I thought that you'd done something really bad. But I should have known that you were making a big deal out of nothing like usual.” Gary couldn't help but sigh in relief as he hugged Ash tightly to him. “Am I pissed that you kissed him? Yes I am. But my fear of losing you forever is greater. Ash, you did nothing that we can't work past, that cannot be forgiven. I love you too, Ash Ketchum, and you've already done more than enough to make this up to me.”

 

“Gary...” Their lips met though the kiss tastes salty from their mingling tears.

 

“I followed you, Ash. From the air, I followed you all the way back here and... you were crying weren't you?”

 

“You... Yes I was. I was so scared that that was going to be the end of us as lovers... as friends even, that I'd fucked up and ruined everything.”

 

“I thought so. The thought that you were crying, heartbroken... That's what brought me here to you. I knew that not knowing the truth would be worse than whatever you could have told me.” Leaning back against the side of the bed, Gary pulled Ash into his lap. They stayed like that, sitting together on the floor just holding one another, until Ash's stomach reminded him that he had never finished eating lunch and they broke apart to eat.


	8. 8

“How can you forgive me?” Ash whispered as they stood on the porch of the Pokemon Center watching the last of the sunset.

“Because I have never known you to lie, Ash. You tell the truth even when it works against you. That's one of the things I love about you, your honesty. And you're loyal to a fault; once you've decided that you want someone in your life you'll do everything you can to make that happen.” Reaching over, Gary took Ash's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Gary... Thank you. I know that it will be some time before you fully trust me again; but know that I will work hard to regain your trust. No matter how long it takes, I will do whatever it takes.”

“I know. Oh, Ash I am wondering one thing. When you confronted James while he was pretending to be me, why did you ask him about the time you broke your leg?” Gary turned towards Ash as he spoke, the last rays of the setting sun catching his hair and making the red strands glimmer like flame, and the brown turn to spun gold.

“Oh, that. It came to mind because we were talking about that Raticate attacking you only a few days ago.” Ash's voice caught in his throat as he spoke, and it took all of his will to not lean close and kiss his lover instead of replying. Never before had Gary looked as beautiful as he did at that moment.

“If I had never pushed you off of the roof of Gramps Pokemon Lab, you never would have angered that Raticate.” Gary glanced down, as though ashamed of the memory.

“What happened wasn't your fault. We were not supposed to be on the roof to begin with, and I shoved you first. We were always wrestling with each other at that time anyway. But we were not thinking about the three story drop if one of us were to fall, until it was too late. I still remember the way you leaned over the edge trying to catch me, hand stretched towards me as I fell.” Ash shivered slightly even though it was warm out.

“I was the one who said it would be okay for us to be up there so long as we were not caught. You're lucky that all you broke that day was your leg. Though you didn't have the patience to let it heal; it was no wonder that you bounded off like that the moment the cast was removed.” Then Gary leaned in and gently kissed Ash, but pulled away again before Ash had a chance to kiss back.

“Gary? What is it?” Ash tensed worried by his friends sudden withdrawal.

“We need to talk, but not here. Let's go get some ice cream.” Gary laughed tugging lightly on Ash's hand, but the laughter was strained and hollow.

Ash said nothing as he followed his lover down the road to the small local market. Sure enough, once inside Ash saw that there was an ice cream shop inside the market, but his stomach was knotted up so badly that for once he was almost certain that he wouldn't be able to eat.

After paying for two scoops of orange creamsicle ice cream, Gary handed one of the cones to Ash and they went back outside. 

“Gary, what is it? You're scaring me...” Ash confessed softly as he idly licked at his cone.

“I... I don't think we should be together, Ash. Not right now.”

“You... Why? Just, why? I thought that we were working things out, so why do you want to break up with me?” Ash asked, his head lowered to hide the fact that his eyes were wet with unshed tears.

“I've been thinking about everything that has happened to us, and I think that ending things is the best choice we have. Ash, it's not because I don't love you any more; I do. It's because I love you that I'm saying this. As for why, well...” Gary broke off to take a bite of his ice cream and think hard about how to say what he needed to say as he led them over to a nearby bench and sat down.

Ash sat down beside Gary. “It's because you can't be with someone you don't trust, isn't it?” Ash asked so suddenly that Gary almost dropped his cone in shock.

“No! Ash, no it's not that. The conference is ending tomorrow; with Team Rockets attack causing delays and many of the presenters having busy schedules the rest of the conference is being cancelled. And when it's over, I'm heading back to Sinnoh. To tell you the truth, before the fiasco with James I was thinking about coming with you instead, but not now. And no, it's not because I don't trust you. I just think that things got too serious too fast between us.”

“What do you mean?” Ash finally looked up and met Gary's eyes, his eyes hopeful behind the tears.

“We're both sixteen, Ash. We're still young and not ready for an adult relationship; I think that we both learned that from what just happened. We need time to mature, and experiment more sexually, with others as well as each other. This isn't goodbye Ash; I'll just be a phone call away whenever you need to talk, even if it's about nothing but you just wanting to hear my voice. And one day you'll be ready to settle down and start a family with someone and when that day comes, I'll be waiting. Whether it's back in Pallet Town or on the moon, when you are ready for an adult relationship with someone let me know and we can give this another chance.” Gary leaned in once more, and this time Ash was able to kiss him back before the kiss broke.

“Are you sure about this? About ending things?” Ash asked, unwilling to let go.

“Yes, I am. You want to have fun with life, and I...” Gary shook his head. “I'm still trying to figure out what I want. And when I'm around you, I can't think about anything except how much I want to feel you underneath me...” Gary's breath caught in his throat as Ash slid onto his lap.

“Then let's make this break up official tomorrow. We can still be together tonight, right?” Ash asked almost shyly as he was no longer certain what Gary wanted.

“Of course we can still be together tonight.” Gary leaned in and quickly kissed Ash again; then someone else loudly cleared their throat to remind them that they were in a public place. Glancing around they saw that many of the people surrounding them were giving them strange, if not actually hostile, glances.

“We should go.” Ash hastily stood and began eating more of his ice cream as he headed back just to keep himself from snapping at the people gaping at him for kissing his boyfriend in public.

“Ash, wait up. Don't let them bother you, we were doing nothing wrong!” But even as Gary took Ash's hand, he was blushing shyly, as though his words were more for himself than for his lover.

“Tonight... I want to try something different, if that's okay with you.” Ash whispered, all but ignoring what Gary had just said.

“What do you want to try?”

“Having you bottom. We don't have to go all the way like that, but...” Ash blushed.

“You want to know what it's like to top?” Gary moved closer so he could whisper directly into Ash's ear.

“Y-yeah...” Ash blushed harder, then he pulled his hand out of Gary's. “I'll race you back!” He laughed over his shoulder, needing to put some space between them before he could forget where they were and jump Gary.

Gary was hot on his heels, the idea of bottoming appealing to him in ways he never thought it would. Though he'd thought that he would need control in bed after what Maya did to him, he realized that he didn't mind being the sub. Not when it was Ash who would be dominating him at any rate.

Knowing that he could catch Ash at any moment, Gary let the younger boy pull ahead of him until the Pokemon Center came back into sight; then he put on a burst of speed and grabbed Ash around the middle.

Ash's forward momentum interrupted, he ended up sprawled out on the grass with Gary on top of him, laughing. “Where do you think you're going, Ashy-boy?” Gary whispered into his ear.

Ash wiggled trying to get out from under Gary. “Up to our room to uh... set things up.” Ash laughed as something began poking his bottom, and he wiggled harder.

“Ash, stop squirming.” Gary hissed into his ear. “If you make me cream my pants out here I'll never let you near my ass!”

Freezing, Ash glanced over his shoulder at Gary. “You wouldn't!”

“I would. I'm going to let you up now, so lets just go inside like calm, rational people who can wait to be alone...” Gary shifted his weight as he spoke, praying that the bulge in his pants wasn't actually as obvious as it felt as he then stood up again.

Grabbing Gary's hand once more, Ash headed inside, sighing in relief when neither Iris or Cilan was waiting in the lobby for him. For once he had no desire to see his friends and have them as how things went with Gary; that could wait until the morning.

The morning... Ash pushed that thought away. He wouldn't think about their impending breakup until he had to.

If he thought about it now he would just start crying... as it was, he was just praying that he wouldn't start crying during sex. Why was Gary breaking up with him? Was what he'd said about them needing to grow up the truth or just said to calm Ash down?

Forcefully pushing his swirling thoughts away, he headed upstairs towards the room he and Gary were sharing.

Once inside however, he could not think about anything other than the fact that it was his last night as Gary's lover, and the tears he had worked so hard to suppress started trailing down his cheeks.

Hugging Ash from behind, Gary kissed his lovers cheek softly. “Don't be sad, Ashy-boy. This won't be forever...”

“Then don't end this! Why... Why are you going back to Sinnoh? Stay here! Stay with me... Please...” Spinning around, Ash threw his arms around Gary, holding him tight. 

“Hush, Ashy, just hush. I'll call as much as I can and I'll give you my number before I leave so that you can call me as often as you need to. Ashy...” Gary was cut off as Ash's lips touched his.

Though the kiss started off gentle, it soon turned into a frantic battle between their tongues, as though Ash was literally trying to become one with his friend.

“Ash... Calm down... we have all night...” Gary managed to gasp out between desperate kisses.

“I know but I need you to... to prove that you love me...” Ash replied, his voice thick with emotion, and his eyes shone though he was no longer crying.

“Ash...” Gary shook his head, uncertainly. “I don't want to hurt you...”

Pain radiated from his left cheek before Gary had time to realize that he had just been slapped. “Liar! If you truly didn't want to hurt me them you'd never have said that it was over between us...” Pushing Gary backwards towards the bed, Ash's hands tore at Gary's clothing.

“Ashy...”

“Don't call me that!” Gary was stunned as Ash pushed him onto the bed itself. “Don't call me Ashy-boy while you're breaking my heart.” Ash punched Gary's chest, but Gary barely felt it.

“Ash I'm sorry...”

“Don't talk... just... just shut up!” Then his shirt was ripped from him and his pants were tugged down, but Ash ignored his limp cock. “Roll over. I don't want to see you're face right now...”

Though there were a million things that Gary wanted to say, and it hurt him to see that Ash was in pain, he complied. He knew that Ash needed to take control, and just hoped that he would be gentle.

As his pants got pulled the rest of the way off, Gary instinctively spread his legs. Maya had never touched him there and he was happy that his first time bottoming would be with Ash; yet he wished that it was because Ash wanted to pleasure him, not because he needs control.

However, he never even thought about asking Ash to stop; he had hurt Ash, and part of him accepted that this was his punishment. The rest of him, the part that was madly in love with Ash, wanted to pleasure Ash one last time and knew that this was the way to do it. That Ash wouldn't let Gary touch him tonight hurt, but he pushed that pain aside to be dealt with at another time.

Then he felt lube slicked fingers rub his entrance and he relaxed as much as he could but...

But he couldn't enjoy it. Not that it wasn't enjoyable; pleasure unlike anything he had ever known before ran up his spine the second Ash pushed his fingers inside him. No, it was the fact that Ash was still crying that made it impossible for him to enjoy being fingered...

“Gary? Are you okay?” Ash pulled the fingers out of him again, and lay against his back instead.

“Yeah... are you?”

“You weren't reacting to me. Did... did Maya...?” Ash asked softly, his voice small.

“No, Ash, Maya never touched me like that. It's... I can't, not while you're crying.” Sighing, Gary shifted. “Come here. Let's forget about having sex for tonight; just let me hold you.”

Ash nodded as he crawled into Gary's arms. “I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me tonight.”

“You're heartbroken. Ash, I'm sorry that I hurt you, but this hurts me to. Breaking up with you is the last thing I want to do.”

“Then why...?”

“Because...” Gary sighed again, and decided to tell him the truth. “It's because you kissed James. Not because you cheated on me...” Gary added hastily as Ash tensed. “It's because you weren't taking this as seriously as I was. If you were you never would have lost yourself in kissing him. That's what hurts and that's why I think we need to spend some time apart. But know that I'll miss you like crazy. I love you, Ash, I love you more than I thought I could ever love anyone... I love you so much that my heart hurts. I just can't be with you right now...”

“I love you too...” Ash looked up at Gary and met his eyes for the first time since Gary had told him that he wanted to end things. “I love you too, that's why this hurts so much.”

They stayed like that for a long time, just holding each other for the last time, until they fell asleep.

 

“Ash, wake up...” Something warm brushed Ash's ear, and he moaned softly, shifting against that warm weight, not wanting to wake up. “Ash...”

“Fine, I'm awake...” Ash sat up yawning. 

“You sleep too much, you know that right?” Gary teased, but his words fell flat as Ash remembered why he wanted to stay asleep and not wake up.

“This is it isn't it? This is goodbye...”

“Not forever, Ash.”

Ash nodded, but to Gary's relief he didn't start crying again. His heart was too numb for that. “When do you leave?”

“My ride will be here soon. I was hoping that we could... could finish what we started last night but there is no time now and you wouldn't wake up any earlier.”

“I'm not in the mood for sex. However... did you like it?” Ash whispered the last words sounding almost like himself again.

“Yes, I loved having you finger me. I had no idea it would feel that good to be fingered anally but not I can't wait to go further with you. I'll wait until I can see you again and we can pick this up where we left off.” Leaning in, he pressed a quick kiss against Ash's mouth just as someone knocked on the door.

As Gary spoke quietly with the young woman, Ash got dressed though all he wanted to do was go to sleep again, and started to repack his backpack.

Without Gary, there was no reason for him to stay any longer. He still had Gym Badges to win, Pokemon Battles to fight and the Unova League to compete in... But at that moment all of it seemed futile since he'd be doing it alone. Gary would be in Sinnoh, and he would be alone...

“Ash, my ride is here, and...” Gary pressed his mouth against Ash's one last time, but this time the kiss was hard and rough, as though Gary was trying to imprint the feel of his lips onto Ash's forever.

“Goodbye...” Was all Ash could say when they broke apart.

“Goodbye, Ashy-boy. Take care of yourself.” Then Gary was gone, following the young woman downstairs and out of Ash's life once more.

Ash swallowed down the urge to cry. What had Gary told him? That when he was ready to settle down they could try again?

That was it! Ash would compete in the Unova League, then they could move back home to Pallet Town and settle down together. He could help Tracey take care of the Pokemon at the Pokemon Lab, and Gary could assist his Grandfather with the research. Or, if that wasn't viable, they could go somewhere else and run a farm; Ash knew he had enough Tauros to run a ranch, and if he could just get his hands on a Miltank or two...

With his new plan in mind, he pushed aside his sadness, shouldered his pack, and ran off to find Iris and Cilan so they could head for the next town.

End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am planning a sequel for this that will be set in Kalos; the sequel will deepen the relationship between Ash and James, as well as hook Ash up with Clemont before he reunites with Gary.


End file.
